Digital Media Concepts/Siri

Siri (Full name: Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is a voice-control virtual assistant which belongs to Apple Inc, it can control by your voice instead of using your fingertips. Siri is part of Apple Inc.’s iOS, MacOS, iPadOS, watchOS and tvOS. It is available in varieties languages, but it is not available in all languages or in all areas; Siri connect with Apple’s data center, that’s why it can quickly understand what you say and what you are asking for, then quickly have a returning response.

History
Siri is developed in 2013 and built into iPhone 4s. Timothy Cook said iPhone4S that “S” is represented to Siri, it showed how important of Siri was.

Siri is the largest AI project of CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns), this project was sponsored by the U.S Department of Defense. They wanted to build a learning assistant which have “personality and cognition ability”, but mainly used in the military field.

In 1993, they launched the first product with Siri concept, it was more like a tablet that could write and give you feedback, and there were more than 50 versions of Siri products came out. Some of them were like TV appliances and even Google Glass. In 2008, after Apple officially released the App Store and SDK, they integrated many functions connected with a network of Siri, which launched. That was the first model of Siri that we see now. The company spent 17 years developing this AI. Adam also mentioned that in the early days of Siri, it did not have sound and would only prompt the answer in text form. The result could let people browse it easier. Steve Jobs was proposing to use voice, but Adam rejected it.

Development
Siri was originally under the U.S. Department of Defense-Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA)’s a research project, and was positioned as a national-level virtual voice assistant which could even become the default feature of Android smartphones, but was sold to Apple Inc. with Apple's intervention. Siri was founded in 2007 by Dag Kittlaus (CEO), Adam Cheyer (Senior Vice President of Engineering), and Tom Gruber (CECTO and Vice President of Design); Norman Winarsky of SRI International also participated in Siri the establishment of the company. On October 13, 2008, Siri Corporation announced that the first round of funding led by Menlo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures had reached $ 8.5 million. Then, Apple completed its acquisition of Siri on April 28, 2010.

Features
In Recent years, Siri can control your smart devices and appliances, hence, it works well in the most setting.


 * Perform Actions

Open application: When you are busying to have multi-task, Siri can make things easier with the ability to locate and open your applications which installed on your phone. While using your voice, Siri can help you to perform a few tasks on Apple Devices which is sending emails and text messages, finding a specific message in your inbox, having your texts read to you and you can reply verbally, your words are transcribed back into text. Moreover, it can get directions from starting point to destination, make a phone call and Facetime video call.


 * Getting Information

Siri can search for anything from Safari, including photos and videos, but it cannot have its ability to open the bookmarks in Safari and it lacks the ability to access websites by URL. But Siri can find a specific website that you want to search for. Siri can provide a direct link to request a specific topic by Wikipedia.

Siri uses the Wolfram Alpha database to find useful information such as dictionary definitions, mathematical equations, measurement conversions, fast fact and pop culture for references. Siri is a calculator that can solve any mathematical equation quickly. Also, unit conversion is a helpful feature that Siri provides via Wolfram Alpha. It can search for anything from Safari, including photos and videos. Last but not least, it can get real-time information on weather, access music and podcast using your voice.


 * Scheduling and reminders

Siri can help you to organize your work and be more productive. Furthermore, Siri can post an update to Facebook and Twitter, add and access calendar appointments through your email, set alarms, timers and reminders and make a note.