They call it Hyperspeech Transfer Protocol, or HSTP, and it’ll probably be here a lot faster than anyone’s actually ready for:
“People will talk to the Web and the Web will respond. The research technology is analogous to the Internet. Unlike personal computers it will work on mobile phones where people can simply create their voice sites,” IBM India Research Laboratory Associate Director Manish Gupta told the Economic Times.
Imagine that. Imagine being to access the internet via your voice and being able to assimilate the data without seeing anything?
I think there’s value in this because there’s just something about someone’s voice when you hear it. There’s something tangible and real to it. There’s a life to it.
I’ve often found myself slightly taken aback when I first meet someone who I’ve only engaged with via Twitter and/or their Blogs. Their voice is not what I had expected it to be.
One value-add this would have for a ministry application is for our own blogs and social media outlets. I think it could bring a level of “reality” to our systems and provide a much clearer picture of the author behind the writing. As a result, a faster, more effective and deeper “connection.”
I think of LeVar Burton and how he has begun blogging, but in addition he reads his blog posts as well! It’s his voice that really gives his blog post “flavor.”
In your own limited capacity, how do you think HSTP could change the way we do digital ministry? (I say limited because even I think it’s relatively nebulous right now…!)
[Image from LeonardLow]
mandythompson says
I recently interviewed for a job at a shady company that I realized was developing and employing voice recognition software. They use their computer applications, as well as voice models, and logical flow of conversation, in cold calls. This company has technology so advanced that the phone calls they host are impressively life-like – so life-like that most people thought they were talking to another person, not some computer on the other end of the phone. When I realized this was the case, I was absolutely wierded out. On the one hand, I was shocked to know computers can talk like people. On the other hand, I was appalled to realize that they used this advancement to fool people into thinking they were receiving personalized customer care.
In short, the company advantageously misled their clients.
I don't know what this new HSTP will look like, but I will agree that technology has already superseded our imagination. If we can't wrap our minds around present realities, how in the world are we gonna assimilate amorphous cell-phone calls to websites.
Dude. This I know: The interweb? It is crazy.
human3rror says
Wow, I'd be interested in knowing what company it was now…!
I'm curious…
theschu says
Wow! I'm both impressed and a little weirded out.
Dan Pedersen says
I think its going to be useful, to what extent I'm unsure. I don't think we can process as much audio information as we can visual – reading is usually faster than listening. Its also harder to scan content when you can only listen. Still, as a software engineer trading in web development there's definitely some cool things I could do with this concept.