What if, instead of saying “Hey Siri” to activate your HomePod, you only had to glance at it? Apple is considering this possibility, and recently filed for a patent on it.
Whether this will become part of a future Apple smart speaker depends on whether it’s actually better than the current activation system.
Apple files patent for glance-activated HomePod
Currently, you control HomePods through voice commands to play music or activate HomeKit accessories. They’re activated when a user says “Hey Siri” (though that will soon be shortened to just “Siri” in the near future).
But the activation phrase could go away completely, according to an Apple patent filing. It explores the possibility of having the HomePod start listening for commands whenever the user is looking at it.
The “Device control using gaze information” patent filing says, in the stilted language traditional for such documents, “While a digital assistant of the electronic device is not activated: obtaining, using one or more camera sensors, first gaze information; and in accordance with a determination that the first gaze information satisfies a set of one or more activation criteria: activating the digital assistant of the electronic device.”
Is this practical?
A patent application isn’t a guarantee that Apple intends to turn an idea into a future product. The company regularly patents concepts and designs that never make it into the real world. And Apple receives a lot of patents.
Plus, there are reasons to question the practicality of a glance-activated HomePod. Is looking at the smart speaker easier and more reliable than speaking a short activation phrase?
Also, there are privacy concerns. The tech would require equipping HomePod with a camera that constantly watches the user. Many people are already worried that phones and other devices are eavesdropping on them — this device would require them to always be watched.
However, the eye-tracking technology that Apple developed to let users control its recently announced Vision Pro headset reportedly works almost like a magic. It’s possible a future HomePod could take advantage of that to make Apple’s speaker even smarter.
