Apple's Siri may get the ability to respond to whispers in future

Apple never fails to amaze people by bringing innovative new features on its devices, especially iPhones. While the company may not launch more than 3 phones in a year, it keeps working behind the curtain for its future products.

As such, Apple has been recently granted a patent for a technology that would allow Siri to detect when a user is whispering and respond quietly. Originally applied for last year, the patent describes a technology that automatically recognizes the owner's whispered words and responds accordingly. The company has also given quite a few instances when such a technology would come in handy.

Of course, talking quietly to the digital assistant may not sound too fascinating per se. However, Apple says such a feature would be useful in a library or an office when you don't want to bother the colleagues.

"A user may ask the device a question while working at a cubicle with other co-workers surrounding the user. A user may also ask the device a question while attending a meeting in a conference room with other meeting participants. A user may also speak to the device while studying in a library where speaking loudly may be prohibited," explains the patent filed by Apple.

Additionally, it is worth noting that Siri would have the capabilities of offering whispered speech as well.

For those who are not aware, iPhone and Apple Watch already have the technical capabilities to determine the amplitude and frequency of input speech to detect whispering, says Apple. So basically, a software update can possibly do all the magic.

Needless to say, whispering could also enable a slew of new features in Siri, though it will be a while. On the other hand, Siri could be fed with more sensitive information since it will be done quietly, and other people won't come to know about it.

Having said that, as it often the case with patents, it is not guaranteed if such a feature would ever be a reality.

The next generation of iPhone models and the major iOS update are expected in 2018, so Apple will get some time to make the feature ready.

Via