Alexa Together subscription service launched today. Speech recognition continues to emerge as one of the preferred interface mechanisms. Currently the only shortcomings is ambient noise in very public locations (and less than optimal noise cancellation by microphones) along with Tin Man type conversational AIs that are clearly not really listening often times. From FIERCE Healthcare —
Amazon Telehealth Expanding
Excerpt:
“The magic of ambient computing is that it just works,” Liron Torres, global leader of Alexa Smart Properties, told Fierce Healthcare in an October interview. “You don’t have to learn new technology or new devices.”
Amazon also started leveraging Alexa-enabled devices in hospitals and senior living facilities earlier this year.
Patients using the devices can get access to entertainment while also asking for things that they need, requests that get sent directly to their care team members.
Several health systems including Cedars-Sinai, who piloted the use of Amazon Alexa devices in over 100 patient rooms in 2019, have signed on to deploy the devices across select facilities.
Several other healthcare and tech companies have ramped up the development of health-focused speech recognition tools.
Microsoft announced plans in April to acquire speech recognition and healthcare AI company Nuance for a whopping $19.7 billion. The deal is set to close by the end of the year or early 2022.