Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer, creators of the artificial intelligence technology that brought Siri to the iPhone, today showcased a new virtual assistant that’s even more amazing.
Viv, which has been secretly in development for the past four years, is a much more open platform that works closely with a whole bunch of different services to be even more powerful than its predecessor, and to take AI to a whole new level.
When Apple acquired Siri in April 2010, 18 months before it integrated the assistant into iPhone 4s, it should have taken Kittlaus and Cheyer and locked them up in a cupboard in a dark room in Cupertino. That would have prevented Siri from being killed by its own creators.
That might be exaggerating just a little right now, but Viv really does have the potential to leave Siri — and most other virtual assistants — in the dust.
Viv is so intelligent, and so open, that it seamlessly connects with third-party services to complete even complex tasks. Instead of just fetching sports scores and setting reminders, it can book a table at your favorite restaurant, and even do your shopping.
During an onstage demo, Viv successfully responded to questions like, “will it be warmer than 70 degrees near the Golden Gate bridge after 5 p.m. the day after tomorrow?” and requests like, “send Adam 20 bucks for the drinks last night.”
Like Alexa and Cortana, Viv is designed to be a broad AI assistant. It wants to help you with as many tasks as possible, and over time, it’s only going to get more useful as the number of supported services continues to grow. Through the Viv developer center, anyone can create new apps that expand Viv’s reach.
Siri is similar, of course, but Apple’s restrictions hold it back. Third-party developers are unable to just create new services for it.
“Viv’s goal is to be ubiquitous so it will understand your preferences and history as you engage with it on your mobile device, or in your car, or with your smart device at home,” said Adam Koopersmith, of Pritzker Group Venture Capital, one of Viv’s investors.
“Our sense is there will be a move away from having hundreds of different apps that act independently. These services will be integrated into everyday life. Viv will be the platform to enable it.”
Viv is “coming soon,” but there’s no specific release date just yet. If you want to create new apps for Viv, checkout the website.
Via: The Verge
