There is a rumor out there that Amazon is about to launch a HIPAA-compliant Echo device, which is expected to drive greater adoption of voice in healthcare. But what does it mean for a smart speaker to become HIPAA compliant and what can voice do today?
Read MoreA new article published last night by The Wall Street Journal takes a look into how accessibility-focused technology has the "potential to fundamentally change the mobility, employment and lifestyle of the blind and vision-impaired."
Read MoreResearch from MWR InfoSecurity Ltd. shows that threat actors can install malware on an Amazon Echo and turn it into a listening device. How effective is this attack, and is there any way to determine if an Amazon Echo has been compromised?
Read MoreLiveWell RERC development staff recently released an Amazon Echo Skill that will read aloud the latest posts from our two blogs, TechWatch and LiveWell News. The new skill can be installed on the Amazon Alexa app and then utilized on any Amazon Echo product. The skill taps into the RSS feeds from our blogs and is called the LiveWell News Skill. Once enabled, saying the command “Alexa, what’s the news”, or “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing,” will allow your Echo to read aloud the latest LiveWell RERC news feeds. A user will only get information if it has been updated within the past week. The LiveWell RERC developer of the new skill from Duke University, Leighanne Davis, says “The new skill will make the news feeds more accessible and convenient to a variety of users by providing speech output.”
Read MoreThe competition in digital speaker-assistants is getting more intense, as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. unfurled an Amazon Echo-like device and fellow Chinese internet giants Tencent and Baidu prepare to develop their own.
Read MoreLike it or hate it, 2016 was a turbulent year that provided a clear message: Our phones enable fantastic and fast communication. Here are 10 predictions about mobile technology trends in 2017, counting down to the most significant change to look out for.
Read MoreTODAY WE GOOGLE for information, but in the future, we might not need to. Instead we may rely on our butler, namely the intelligent, voice-activated digital assistant on our smart phones, smart watches, or devices like Amazon’s Echo and Alphabet’s Home. Rather than searching the web, we’ll be able to ask our digital assistant how to remove the stain from our shirt. It’ll perform other perfunctory tasks, like adding groceries to our shopping list, checking the weather, sending a text, or ordering an Uber.
Read MoreIF YOU GOT an Amazon Echo or Google Home voice assistant, welcome to a life of luxurious convenience. You’ll be asking for the weather, the news, and your favorite songs without having to poke around on your phone. You’ll be turning off lights and requesting videos from bed. The world is yours.
Read MoreAlexa has started talking finance — and banks, insurance companies, and investment firms are all listening.
Read MoreSAN FRANCISCO — Software giant Google is beginning an aggressive foray into hardware production with the launch Tuesday of a smartphone and other devices that will bring the company into direct competition with other leading tech firms, including its longtime partner Samsung.
Read MoreGoogle is expected to announce several new products today, including a new line of smartphones, an intelligent router and a voice-controlled wireless speaker. The latter, reportedly called “Google Home” is aimed to become the voice-controlled center of the future smart home and will compete directly with Amazon’s popular Echo devices.
Read MoreGoogle Home makes one heck of a first impression: An adorable little Bluetooth speaker, with a hyper-advanced personal assistant that promises to do things Amazon’s Echo can’t even dream of. You can even choose the color.
Read MoreThe Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Information and Communications Technology Access (LiveWell RERC) is funded by a 5-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (grant number 90RE5028). The opinions contained in this website are those of the LiveWell RERC and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or NIDILRR.
