Source: VentureBeat | Originally published March 18, 2017Samsung’s reach extends across nearly every aspect of the home, encompassing appliances, televisions, computers, tablets, light bulbs, and smartphones. And the company isn’t stopping there, as it’s also extending its reach into third-party connected devices through its SmartThings offering. And as it builds out ecosystems for the home, the next step is to offer up a way for consumers to communicate with them in a way that feels normal, and that’s where artificial intelligence and Samsung’s Viv acquisition will be valuable.
“At a greater level, you have to think about how to make the voice technology easy to use and user-friendly so everyone embraces the technology,” remarked Won Jin Lee, Samsung’s executive vice president for its video display business. In an interview with VentureBeat, he explained that the way to accomplish this is with a service that’s conversational, personalized, and contextual.
“The idea is to create a corporate-wide AI voice system that’s applied to all products that we offer,” he said. At the heart of this effort is Viv Labs, the startup Samsung acquired last year for around $215 million. Over the course of this year, Lee promised that we’re going to see more implementations of Viv Labs’ technology in the Samsung ecosystem.
When pressed for additional details, Lee demurred. Still, a company spokesperson later told me: “Samsung has been developing its own voice recognition technology and through the Viv platform, processed user queries are connected to services that best meet their needs.”
Rather than acquiring the technology and rushing it out the door for all its consumers to have voice controls in every device, Samsung may be being more deliberate. “You really have to think about how to make the voice technology easy to use and user-friendly so everyone embraces the technology, Lee explained. He highlighted three things that must be accounted for in the process: The service has to be conversational like you’re talking to another human being; It has to be personalized to provide relevant information; and it has to be contextual, meaning possessing an awareness of the situation to be useful.
“The introduction of AI into consumer systems is a really interesting development and will provide businesses like Samsung not only a new interaction challenge for their customers, but it’s also one that raises the level of sophistication of their devices by giving them intelligence that they can’t get from a less personal interaction method,” remarked Brian Blau, an analyst at Gartner
Much of the work in the space is being integrated into Samsung televisions, a device the company deems as the central hub for entertainment in the home. It’s clear that viewing behaviors have changed over the last few years from having cable to cutting the cord, and then consuming video online exclusively. Samsung, like most manufacturers, wants to make more money by showing the value of having a 55-inch or 65-inch screen in your living room.
Part of that strategy involves its enhanced Smart TV hub. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Samsung introduced an update that provides functionality similar to Google Chromecast, allowing you to beam content from your phone to a larger screen. This is in addition to the existing iOS and Android apps that Samsung offers, which allow you to control the TV normally, either by voice or by tapping on the screen. Lee describes these efforts as being able to “take the TV remote to the next level.”
“Our goal is to eliminate the need for a TV remote,” he said. “If you look at this from a practical standpoint, it’s much easier to press your channel up/down button than telling your TV to change the channel. That’s the reality. We’re taking a practical approach when the user experience is not convenient just because of the handicap that comes with the TV is what we’re really focused on. I’m not interested in telling the TV to channel up or down. I can certainly do that with the press of a button, so we’re tackling the hard problems.” If you look at this from a practical standpoint, it’s much easier to press your channel up/down button than telling your TV
Samsung is already using AI to personalize content you might be interested in through its smart hub. It curates music and sports based on your viewing and listening habits, and Lee suggested that more verticals would be added throughout 2017, such as gaming. “There are many different sources of gaming content, and we want to give you a very consolidated or cohesive view of all the videos that are coming from many sources.”
The company is also believed to be working on its own version of an AI assistant within its mobile devices called Bixby, which some suggest is a by-product of Samsung’s “S Voice” service made for the Galaxy device and will compete against Google and Apple. Beyond that, it’s only a matter of time before we see another voice-enabled AI offering geared towards the Internet of Things, similar to Google Home or Amazon Echo.
Blau hopes to see further integrations of Viv into Samsung’s ecosystem of products, including smartphones, TVs, and appliances. “At first it will be rudimentary voice control, but over time it will gain in complexity and likely will be integrated as a core feature of Samsung’s consumer device,” he said.
Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst for Moor Insights & Strategy, agrees with the approach Samsung is taking. “The big idea here is to enable all Samsung products to use a common AI platform and thereby improve the experience. AI is only as good as its data and algorithms, and it improves by having it on every household appliance, living room, mobile device, and in the car,” he remarked. “I’m expecting Samsung to tie all of their products and services using Viv.”
As Samsung develops AI features for its televisions and phones, it may seem like these efforts are being done independently; however, analysts believe that the foundation for all of this will be Viv’s technology. We can expect to see some of the latest innovations with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone later this month.
“Consumers are already addicted to their technology, smartphones are almost ubiquitous, and engagement on those devices is fairly high,” Blau explained. “To add value, providers must look at ways to extend functionality, and voice and virtual personal assistant, driven by AI systems, can bridge the gap between an impersonal interaction with a brand, to one that directly links the user to the service in a hyper-personal way.”
Featured Image: Samsung's Executive Vice President of its video display business, Won Jin Lee, after presenting at CES 2017. Credit: Ken Yeung
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