PA (Personified Assistant) : An evolution in the making?

Just as the PC graphical user interface and the web browser created user revolutions by providing unifying interfaces and frameworks for existing but disconnected applications and information, the PA (Personified Assistant) will unite and simplify existing devices in the home. PA enables a variety of pervasive home applications, such as 1) Family Assistants; 2) Communications, including telephony, email, and instant messaging; 3) Infotainment, including music and movie navigation and selection as well as Internet information retrieval; and 4) Home Automation, which includes lighting and HVAC control.

How many remotes do you have in your ?remote basket? ?

It seems that with every new electronic gadget, there?s a new remote control to master. Most families now have a "remote basket" that includes up to 10 different remote controls. The fact is, people like the hands-free experience, but they realize it comes with a cost and certain limitations. For one, the more advanced the gadget is, the more difficult the remote is to use. Such remotes are fine for turning on a device, controlling the volume, and switching channels, but much more difficult for complex sequences such as choosing a program to record at a set time. A PA interface can solve that.

How will you navigate 300,000 songs on the Internet and thousands of radio stations?

Broadband Internet connections are ushering in a new era of entertainment, making interface technologies like the PA a necessity in the digital world. In the "old" days, people found it cumbersome to find and load their records, tapes, and CDs in order to play music. This physical and psychological barrier prevented them from fully enjoying their music collections; in many cases they would only load a few albums into the music player and rotate them infrequently. People were also bothered by having to get up from the couch at the time when they most wanted to sit and relax. In today's digital world, where many consumers have hundreds or even thousands of MP3s loaded onto the music player, the burden comes from searching through so many titles to find the right song. Furthermore, with the advent of subscription-based services, such as Rhapsody, where consumers now have access to full music libraries of 300,000+ songs, tactile interfaces no longer work. A similar problem also exists for TV-based entertainment, where consumers are more interested in the specific content they want than learning channel numbers or how to create complex programming sequences to record a show. In both cases, consumers want to issue simple commands, such as "Play the Beatles," "Record the West Wing," "Tell me what football games are on," etc. A PA interface can solve that.

Can you get instantaneous information/entertainment from the Internet without using your PC ?

Consumers are now aware of the vast stores of Internet content available at their fingertips, but they don't access this information nearly as often as they could because their "fingertips" are not usually the tool they want to use. When people are enjoying their homes for things other than work, which is primarily the case, they don't want to sit in front of the PC. They also dislike clicking around on the TV, looking for the latest weather, headlines, or sports scores. They want the information right away, from any location in their home, just by asking for it. They could be getting dressed, washing the dishes, lying in bed, working out, relaxing on the couch, eating dinner, playing with the kids, or any other home activity. In this normal family environment, a trip to sit in front of the PC is anti-social and disruptive. A PA interface can solve that.

Is your family out of touch with each other ?

People stay in better touch with each other when it?s easy. Email overcame the time and cost limitations of snail mail. Instant messaging provides the added benefit of present awareness. The telephone has been a useful tool for a century, as long as you can remember the number to dial. And regardless of the mode of communication, the topic of conversation is usually tied in some way to information stored somewhere out of reach, such as birthdays, holidays, to-do items, or the family calendar. The fact is, in today's busy world, it is still difficult to keep in touch with each other. A PA interface can solve that.


PA : An evolution in the making?
How many remotes do you have in your ?Remote Basket? ?
How will you navigate 300,000 songs on the Internet and thousands of radio stations?
Can you get instantaneous information/entertainment from the Internet without using your PC ?
Is your family out of touch with each other ?