NTT Corp has developed a computer speech interface that allows the user to have a ‘conversation’, of sorts, with the computer. Researchers have rigged up the image of a face on the screen which can ‘reply’ to the user with a set of simple responses. The most unique function of the software is that it can be interrupted while replying to a user and still carry on with a ‘conversation.’ According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Japanese telco envisages the machine being used as a command and control device for networked homes and a voice activated search engine. There is no word on when the technology will emerge from NTT’s R&D labs.
