When Apple first demonstrated Siri, it was heralded as being the ultimate voice assistant feature. However it kind of fell short of expectations when it was launched. Over the years Apple has made some pretty huge strides in terms of improving upon the feature, and now thanks to a recent acquisition, Siri could be getting an additional boost.
Re/code now reports that Apple had acquired a UK-based speech technology startup called VocalIQ. The company specializes on creating spoken interfaces that can be used in all kinds of applications, ranging from cars, to wearables, to internet-connected devices, all of which Apple has a stake or interest in (think Apple Watch and HomeKit).
VocalIQ, was spun out of the University of Cambridge’s Dialogue Systems Group in 2011, and in 2014 it received £750,000 in funding in an investment round led by Mike Lynch-backed Amadeus Capital Partners and Parkwalk. The business apparently uses machine learning to build virtual assistants.
Back in March 2015, VocalIQ singled out Siri, among other competing products, as falling “well short of consumer expectations.”
In a blog it said: “All major technology companies are pouring billions into building up of services like Siri, Google Now, Cortana and Alexa. Each was launched with a huge bang, promising great things but fell well short of consumer expectations. Some ended being used only as toys, like Siri. The rest, forgotten. Unsurprisingly.”
Rather than using a “pre-programmed flow-chart based response that don’t learn”, VocalIQ claims to have developed the “world’s first self-learning dialogue API – putting real, natural conversation between people and their devices.”
Apple has issued a statement confirming the acquisition, according to Financial Times, though it refused to discuss the deal’s objective or plans. The team is expected to stay in Cambridge rather than move to the U.S.
