Apple's Siri-based Echo competitor could come with facial recognition camera, ship in 2017

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware
Apple's rumored Amazon Echo competitor could reportedly include a camera for facial recognition, but may have to wait until 2017 to hit store shelves.




Apple has explored the idea of having a camera automatically detect who's in a room, using this to load personal preferences in things like music or lighting, sources told CNET. This might be similar to the Kinect sign-in option for Microsoft's Xbox One, which lets multiple people share a console more easily.

With or without a camera, Apple's device could ship by year's end but is more likely to arrive in 2017, the sources said. The product is said to be in enough of a tentative state that Apple could still kill the project entirely.

Rumors about an Echo-like device first emerged on Tuesday, suggesting that Apple will use an enhanced Siri to respond to commands and questions, much like Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. Another parallel would stem from the Apple hardware's support for HomeKit, since the Echo can also be linked up with various smarthome accessories.

On Thursday however a report suggested that Apple might simply upgrade the Apple TV, putting a microphone and speaker into the set-top. Such a device might not be a true Echo competitor though, since without satellite microphone/speaker units it would only ever work in rooms with a TV.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 25
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    Nope.
    lkruppSpamSandwichbaconstangdoozydozen
  • Reply 2 of 25
    eightzero said:
    Nope.
    We all know you'll be first in line to buy it..
    doozydozen
  • Reply 3 of 25
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    eightzero said:
    Nope.
    We all know you'll be first in line to buy it..
    Meh. I don't need more @internetofshit

    This whole concept just seems pointless. And most people ain't keen on surveillance. Recall Samesung's TVs that were listening to the room for "feedback." 

    Perhaps OT, but the ads that run while streaming a channel drive me nuts. Watch NBC Sports Extra and get Olympics ads repeated dozens of times an hour. Please, someone, make a service that watches for the fingerprint of an ad, and when it matches, put something else on the screen. Either an opt-in ad that a user gets paid to watch, a blank screen, or other content a user owns or controls.


    edited May 2016 baconstangfotoformatdoozydozen
  • Reply 4 of 25
    Sounds like the future. And if all the face recognition, listening for the "hey siri" command, and home settings are able to be managed locally, there shouldn't be any significant privacy concerns. [Thankfully Apple is a trustworthy company that's been very consistent regarding making privacy a top priority, unlike some others, who go out of their way to circumvent privacy, and receive record setting fines for doing so..] I could easily see how you could just come home and wave 'hi' to the Apple TV and it will reply "hi john/jane, glad your're home" (in background air conditioning, lights, shades adjust, message is sent to sig other, etc).

    If we have to wait until 2017, please Apple, ffs, at least release an integrated Apple Home iOS app in the meantime (i.e with iOS 10).

    As an aside, it's going to be strange having a generation of kids that will grow up thinking that tech objects can be sentient. It'll actually probably be quite a shock when they grow up and realize that they're just machines, kind of like finding out santa clause doesn't exist. ..oops, spoiler alert!


    This fits in very well with my thoughts from the previous thread:
    Great thought! And with primesense not only will gestures be a possibility, but also face tracking and autorfocus for the camera. Also, if combined with a microphone array it could localize voices, which would improve communication with the hub in an environment with multiple people, or with background TV noise, etc. This could be supplemented by using your watch or phone to interact with the home hub when out of earshot, or possibly also API enabled 3rd party speakers as has been mentioned.

    This rumor makes sense. The TV is the literal hub of the home, and it makes sense for the AI to be based there (not wherever someone happens to leave the speaker). These type of products should be about a shared experience in the home, it should bring people together (whereas the iPhone functions as your personal hub). This way you don't have people fighting over who gets to have the hub next to them. At a surface level, anchoring the home hub at the TV may seem limiting, but in reality this setup enables better organization and facilitates the connected home, especially if there are multiple people, and especially if some of those people are chronologically challenged.

    tl;dr: While iPhone is your personal hub, the Apple TV/siri will be the (shared) hub of the home.

    edited May 2016
  • Reply 5 of 25
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Rumored product delayed until 2017!
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 6 of 25
    Sounds like the future. And if all the face recognition, listening for the "hey siri" command, and home settings are able to be managed locally, there shouldn't be any significant privacy concerns. [Thankfully Apple is a trustworthy company that's been very consistent regarding making privacy a top priority, unlike some others, who go out of their way to circumvent privacy, and receive record setting fines for doing so..] I could easily see how you could just come home and wave 'hi' to the Apple TV and it will reply "hi john/jane, glad your're home" (in background air conditioning, lights, shades adjust, message is sent to sig other, etc).

    If we have to wait until 2017, please Apple, ffs, at least release an integrated Apple Home iOS app in the meantime (i.e with iOS 10).

    As an aside, it's going to be strange having a generation of kids that will grow up thinking that tech objects can be sentient. It'll actually probably be quite a shock when they grow up and realize that they're just machines, kind of like finding out santa clause doesn't exist. ..oops, spoiler alert!


    This fits in very well with my thoughts from the previous thread:
    Great thought! And with primesense not only will gestures be a possibility, but also face tracking and autorfocus for the camera. Also, if combined with a microphone array it could localize voices, which would improve communication with the hub in an environment with multiple people, or with background TV noise, etc. This could be supplemented by using your watch or phone to interact with the home hub when out of earshot, or possibly also API enabled 3rd party speakers as has been mentioned.

    This rumor makes sense. The TV is the literal hub of the home, and it makes sense for the AI to be based there (not wherever someone happens to leave the speaker). These type of products should be about a shared experience in the home, it should bring people together (whereas the iPhone functions as your personal hub). This way you don't have people fighting over who gets to have the hub next to them. At a surface level, anchoring the home hub at the TV may seem limiting, but in reality this setup enables better organization and facilitates the connected home, especially if there are multiple people, and especially if some of those people are chronologically challenged.

    tl;dr: While iPhone is your personal hub, the Apple TV/siri will be the (shared) hub of the home.

    Obviously they will not be releasing an Echo. They are however late with about 100 atv features that were promised or rumored prior to its handicapped release. Im not sure what to think about how the apple tv is being managed. It was clearly designed for greater capability. Its not relevant without a non alacarte best use - niche user base. It simply has to do a "have to" thing. Like stream your tv, or turn on the appliances and lights and..." otherwise its the mid range streamer that you will never use word on or edit pictures... You know apps There may very well be a FaceTime camera on the apple tv someday. FaceTime on the TV will be a priority and a pillar of all the functionality and 1st Class apps on every OS device someday. Including the watch. 
    cali
  • Reply 7 of 25
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    Oh hell no! 
    baconstang
  • Reply 8 of 25
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    See why 2017 will be just like 1984.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 9 of 25
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    AI, are you listening?  You continue to appear ignorant and unable to learn.  But I'll keep trying...

    Face recognition is the term used to describe the process of identifying a specific person, such as from a database of known persons (no fly list, for example).  This is face recognition.

    There's also face detection, which is the process of detecting the elements of a human face within a scene.  This is typically a precursor to application of face recognition algorithms, used to identify the owner of a face in a scene.

    Then there's facial recognition, which is the process of detecting specific facial expressions (smiling, frowning, sadness, etc).  This term is often used in the medical world to characterize specific inabilities of patients to recognize meaning in human faces.  Or, I suppose, one could use the term facial recognition to mean the detection of someone who has recently come from a spa treatment appointment.  (Kidding.)

    Folks who incorrectly use the term facial recognition will find themselves finally corrected once Apple introduces some form of face detection and face recognition on stage in a product introduction.  Until that day I'm afraid folks will continue to use the wrong term to describe face recognition.  
    baconstangdamn_its_hotbadmonk
  • Reply 10 of 25
    Could also double as a security camera ala Canary..
  • Reply 11 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Hoping Apple chooses not to follow in the footsteps of Amazon and Google until the time comes that sophisticated AI functions are available locally (not over the Internet), which would enable Apple to maintain complete privacy for users. The FBI has already hinted that it may have asked for access to Echo data from Amazon.
    edited May 2016 baconstangdoozydozen
  • Reply 12 of 25
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    why would we have any reason to believe apple wants to compete in this space, since Amazon hasnt released any sales numbers? i mean, it's a bluetooth speaker you can give basic vocal commands to. like my car. big deal?
    latifbp
  • Reply 13 of 25
    larryalarrya Posts: 606member
    I hope this isn't true, and Apple isn't skating to where the puck was last year (or, two years ago in 2017). 
  • Reply 14 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    why would we have any reason to believe apple wants to compete in this space, since Amazon hasnt released any sales numbers? i mean, it's a bluetooth speaker you can give basic vocal commands to. like my car. big deal?
    I suppose it's mainly notable for its accuracy and ability to pick up queries from a distance with no problems, even when faced with background noise.
  • Reply 15 of 25
    I heard it may also have a bidet.
    baconstanglostkiwidoozydozen
  • Reply 16 of 25
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Hoping Apple chooses not to follow in the footsteps of Amazon and Google until the time comes that sophisticated AI functions are available locally (not over the Internet), which would enable Apple to maintain complete privacy for users. The FBI has already hinted that it may have asked for access to Echo data from Amazon.
    I think you'd actually prefer that Apple follow in Google's footsteps regarding voice recognition research and deployment.
    http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/03/13/google-research-suggests-its-working-on-voice-recognition-that-doesnt-need-an-internet-connection/
    edited May 2016
  • Reply 17 of 25
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    gatorguy said:
    Hoping Apple chooses not to follow in the footsteps of Amazon and Google until the time comes that sophisticated AI functions are available locally (not over the Internet), which would enable Apple to maintain complete privacy for users. The FBI has already hinted that it may have asked for access to Echo data from Amazon.
    I think you'd actually prefer that Apple follow in Google's footsteps regarding voice recognition research and deployment.
    http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/03/13/google-research-suggests-its-working-on-voice-recognition-that-doesnt-need-an-internet-connection/
    That would be preferable, however we both know Google still uses aggregated user data for advertising. 
    baconstangpatchythepiratelostkiwidoozydozen
  • Reply 18 of 25
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    why would we have any reason to believe apple wants to compete in this space, since Amazon hasnt released any sales numbers? i mean, it's a bluetooth speaker you can give basic vocal commands to. like my car. big deal?
    I suppose it's mainly notable for its accuracy and ability to pick up queries from a distance with no problems, even when faced with background noise.
    what are these queries? i imagine today its mostly limited to playing music. sure sure you can "ask for the news" but in real life thats stupid. im talking real world value -- what is it? besides playing music?
    baconstangdoozydozen
  • Reply 19 of 25
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,104member
    I heard it may also have a bidet.
    If it dispenses shots of tequila, I'll look into it.
    lostkiwikamilton
  • Reply 20 of 25
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    Could also double as a security camera ala Canary..
    I had the Simplicam Home Security camera that had "facial recognition" according to their website...but as the previous poster stated maybe it was just facial detection...
    I came around on having it incorporated into the Apple TV...It differentiates them from other
    devices and harder to have a cheap knockoff.

    We are prob a few years away from this becoming mainstream, but "If you build it, they will come" in terms of developers....we prob don't realize what we need it for until we have it kind of a thing...I'm sure Apple won't rush it to market, and when they release it, all the other companies will just copy apples
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