Your Smart Device is Making You Weird – A series where ScienceBlog.com blogger joebowman takes a look at new technologies and the ways they affect individuals and society.
I was with a group of friends the other day and someone in the group was the proud bearer of a new mobile phone, an Android-powered device by HTC. One of the more interesting features about the Google-built mobile OS is the voice recognition engine. Available on your desktop as well as your mobile device Voice Search as it’s branded provides a way to speak text instead of typing.
Immediately the new owner of the phone remarked that voice input for text messaging was just like have a conversation with someone without talking to them. Bemused with the irony that a device dedicated primarily to communication once again has served to digitally distance people from one another. In this case people can have the convenience of speaking their thoughts but without the hassle of real-time Human interaction.
Those of us in the group who hadn’t discovered this feature on their own phones quickly joined in the excitement as the voice input accurately transcribed each word. While I rarely use the voice input feature feeling decidedly cheeky uttering emotionally charged phrases into my phone with the consistent monotone precision that ensured accurate translation, but others didn’t seem to have the same issue.
As the Art of Conversation in the Digital Age evolves and changes, what do we gain but a little time saved?
Perhaps this is technology catching up with the way people communicate best in today’s world. Maybe this is just the dawn of the voice powered world ahead of us where merely speaking a command or phrase elicits all manner of actions from devices eager to do our bidding.
Whatever it is don’t be alarmed with you see people mindlessly droning into their devices uttering fragments of conversations far removed from the real world we actually live in.