<i>Specifically, MICROSOFT has three technologies that could, theoretically, provide a Star Trek like experience in your home:<p>1. Voice recognition<p>Anyone with Visual Studio knows how easy it is to use MICROSOFT's voice recognition framework. They’ve had it for years, and it keeps getting better.<p>2. MICROSOFT HOME NETWORKING and UPNP<p>Since the days of MSHOME, Microsoft has been hard at work getting your fridge, phone, and computer to talk to each other -- with zero configuration! Did we say phone? We meant tricorder.<p>3. Search (Bing)<p>MICROSOFT's Bing takes you beyond information retrieval. As a Decision Engine, it's just what Jean-Luc needs when deciding whether to enter Cardassian space or not.</i><p>Seriously: The fundamental technologies to “talk to your [handheld device] and display search results on a television” have been around for years and years now, but it’s not <i>really</i> a compelling use-case and furthermore takes real vision and commitment to deliver this as part of a really usable experience, something that has not really been Google or Microsoft's strong suit.
Google Goggles[1] is one I'd add to his list of three.<p>Image recognition might not be very Star Trek-ish, but I think it has more potential than speech recognition. Google seem to feel the same way, because they plug it pretty heavily in the Nexus S promo[2].<p>Jean-Luc Picard, for example, appears to favour speech recognition as an input method only when there's little background noise. In the heat of battle, he barks orders at his crew, who interpret his commands and input them on touch screens.<p>The same is true of speech recognition today -- it's handy at times (e.g. when driving), but its use cases are limited to rare moments of solitude, not in the busy offices, bustling homes, and daily commutes that fill much of our lives.<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/</a><p>[2]: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxUXulxE5o0" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxUXulxE5o0</a>
Seems to be up again, but if not:
<a href="http://www.jeffreytalajic.com.nyud.net/2011/05/11/google-is-building-star-trek/" rel="nofollow">http://www.jeffreytalajic.com.nyud.net/2011/05/11/google-is-...</a>
<i>...and boom goes the dynamite.</i><p>-edit-
Since the site's back up, I will ask this in relation to the article: How is there not an equivalent extension for Chrome that does voice input? I'd love to use that to compose emails.