Technology is something that is never static. It is always a dynamic process. What works today may work in an even better way tomorrow due to the continuous advancement of technology. History is proof of the fact that there was a time when there were no touchscreen devices or smart phones which are ubiquitous gadgets today. When these devices were first introduced to consumers, they thought they had an exceptional, unique product in their hands. Do you think of smart phones the same way today? Of course not. Today it is as common as your bread and butter.
Likewise, the way you connect with your smart phone is going to move through a big leap of change, thanks to the introduction of a new speech recognition technology known as Application Programming Interface or API. You should know about this new development, especially if you are into developing apps. If you want your customers to be able to interact with your apps by means of their voices, using this new speech recognition technology is the only way you can do it. Now, if you are scratching your head over what to do about it or how to get yourself started with this technology so that you can implement it into your apps, fear not. Api.ai is here to help you. In this article I am going to tell you how. Believe it or not, using Api.ai is so darn easy that you can get started with it in as little as two minutes!
Implementing voice commands into apps has never been this effortless before the launch of Api.ai. As soon as this new technology is implemented, it would be possible for the touchscreen device users to dictate their touchscreen devices simply by means of their voices; as an app developer, you and your customers can benefit from this api because it compels your app (or the device it is installed on) not just to pay heed to you or your customers’ voice commands but also to accept and carry out the same. It is like having a slave at hand!
As an app developer, your first step is to offer a proper description of all the objects you want the app to interact with. The next step is to add all these actions and enable them for each object they are associated with. Before you even realize it, you have installed this technology successfully into your app and made it voice-enabled! Can anything be easier and quicker than that? I don’t think so. In spite of the fact that it uses the highest technology available today, the simplicity of this app is absolutely astonishing. Who would have imagined that a technology of such caliber can be implemented within minutes! Well, Api.ai has made the impossible possible.
If your project is a complicated one, then of course it may take a bit longer than normal to get this API implemented, but that does not overshadow the fact that this API is extremely simple and clear-cut to use and understand. Here are the few simple and easy steps you need to follow in order to implement this new speech recognition technology into your app:
a) The very first task you need to do is that of identification and description of the objects you want your app to interact with.
b) Once the above is done, the second task for you to perform is to create the actions or a script containing a set of actions which are about to be performed after such an interaction. Let us say that you want to switch to another television channel, so you would need to define that ‘action’ here
c) The final step is the step of integration. All that is left to do for you is to integrate this smart speech recognition technology into your app by means of the highly capable and smart SDK provided by Api.ai.
Once you have completed all the above there steps, the voice recognition technology gets implemented into your app successfully and your users or customers should be able to interact with your app with their voice commands. Yep, they just need to say a few words and your app would do their bidding: it is as simple as that!
The endless possibilities offered by this voice recognition technology: This new voice command recognition technology throws up endless possibilities to app developers as you can well understand. This API is so intelligent that it is capable of performing any kind of task commanded by means of human voice; it is also capable of running on any kind of smart device. In fact, you can enable this speech recognition technology not just in smart phone apps but also in apps used in home improvement, motor vehicles, etc; the same technology can also be implemented in television and robots! To add to the list, any type of smart device worn by humans is also compatible with this technology. As you can understand, this api technology is extremely flexible and can handle any type of situation; even if the operating system of the host device does not happen to be iOS, as a developer you can still use this API for a variety of other useful purposes, such as:
a) You can implement this speech recognition capability into any smart device you choose. But you are smart enough to know that already, right? As this speech recognition technology is compatible across various platforms, both the apps running on iOS as well as the non-iOS apps can benefit from it. Think Web Apps, Python, Unity, and Android – yep, this smart API is compatible with them all!
b) It is multi-lingual, which throws up even further possibilities for any smart app developer. As of now, this voice recognition API recognizes eleven unique languages, with more being added to the list with each passing day
c) As you can well understand, Api.ai is far from just a mere tool to enable voice recognition in smart phones and other devices. Any device or technology which is involved in areas such as natural language processing and understanding, text-to-speech recognition and voice recognition (or voice command recognition) can make use of Api.ai.
In short, no matter what the device might be, you can create an app for it and enable voice recognition technology into it, courtesy Api.ai!
Cost of Api.ai: Api.ai is a cost effective technology. It offers various pricing packages you can choose from, so that you can select a package which is suitable to your budget as well as the kind of app you are developing! If your project is absolutely non-commercial, you can use the free version of this tool.
Being free does not mean that it is ‘crippled’; in fact, even as a free user you will get limitless access to all the future product updates (including new features being implemented) as well as product support.
On the other hand, if your app is commercial, Api.ai offers you two packages to choose from; you can, if you want, participate in their revenue sharing program, or you can allow yourself to be charged based on the number of requests you make with this API.
For each request you send to this API, you will be charged a nominal fee of just .003 cents per request. I believe that is quite a justifiable price. If you plan to participate in the revenue sharing program then you will have to contact the developer of this technology directly and negotiate the price with him.
If you and your app are smart enough, you can send up to 9k queries per month to the API in exchange of just twenty dollars, not to mention that you also get to use the technology to its fullest level. Like I said, Api.ai is a cost effective solution.
You are not forced to start with a big pricing plan. If you want to start slow, you can, and then, when your app develops further and grows more popular, you can scale your way up gradually!
The many advantages of implementing Api.ai into your smart app: You have just made your smart app even smarter by implementing this voice recognition technology. Once you have enabled this voice command technology into your app, you can get limitless benefits from its usage. For instance:
a) The API is smart enough to learn its way through the use of sample requests as well as interaction from users. Thus, you don’t have to make the same exact request in the same manner twice. You make an elaborate request the first time and the next time you want to make the same request, you can do it using shortcuts!
b) Api.ai is compatible across many devices and platforms because the technology it is based on is not really that unique and brand new. In fact, the same technology has been in usage previously in different kinds of situations! No wonder that this technology can be implemented not just on iOS but also on Android as well as across various websites!
c) Various dialog contexts occurring at the same time can be easily joined together, thanks to the smartness of this technology
d) More than a billion testers have been involved in testing this new technology of Api.ai. As such, its performance level and capabilities are unquestionable!
Can you think of any app developer who would not be able to benefit from the usage of Api.ai? I cannot.
Conclusion: Whether you want more downloads or sales of your app, you must endeavor to make it smarter than all the other similar apps flooding the market so be one of the first developers to start using this technology! As you can see, it is not just your customers or users, but even you who would be benefited tremendously from its implementation. With more than reasonable prices offered by Api.ai, there is just no easier, quicker and budget-friendly way to enable voice recognition in your apps other than through Api.ai. All developers who are smart enough to understand its many benefits and want to take their apps to the next level should start using this technology right away in order to make their apps smarter, more bewitching, as well as easier to use!
1 Comment
Nice