Couch Potatoes Rejoice! Expect Labs launches turnkey solution for building voice-powered connected home applications.

The MindMeld API now lets any developer create next-generation voice interfaces in minutes.

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Jul 09, 2014, 03:52 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In a few years, our homes will be overflowing with connected devices: tablets, set-top boxes, smart TVs, smartphones, wearables, and perhaps even doorknobs. When we need a piece of information, we will be able to ask whichever device is within earshot and quickly find what we need.

Today, however, finding information while sitting on the couch can be a painful task. Using two fingers to type a search on a tablet or smartphone will most certainly require you to relinquish that half-eaten sandwich in your hand. Navigating on-screen guides using a clunky remote control will quickly exhaust the patience of even the most forgiving attention span. For the modern couch potato, this is simply unacceptable.

A.I. scientists have long been promising a 'Star Trek' future where we can simply ask and receive exactly what we need. While the technical capabilities to make this possible have finally arrived, developers eager to create these new voice-driven experiences still face formidable challenges.

Building a system to accurately understand spoken language and immediately find the most relevant piece of content from potentially millions of choices is no small task. It involves integrating and optimizing some of the most advanced machine learning and search technology that exists today - placing it out of reach for all but the most sophisticated technology companies.

Today, all that changes. Expect Labs is catapulting the couch potato into the future with their turnkey solution for building voice-powered apps using the MindMeld API. Now any developer can create a voice-driven content discovery experience for their application or device in two simple steps:

Point MindMeld to your website or database and automatically generate a custom knowledge graph.
Use the MindMeld client SDKs to display a customizable voice-driven interface in your device or application.

Try out some examples of MindMeld in action here: https://developer.expectlabs.com/demos.

Even the big guys agree: "We see intelligent voice-driven interfaces as a key part of our strategy to power the future connected home," says Michael Eagles, Senior Director of Strategy & Innovation at Liberty Global, the world's largest international cable operator. "The MindMeld API is a powerful tool to help us deliver on this vision."

At last, the future has arrived. Gone are the days when couch potatoes must lift forearm and finger to find a video to watch. MindMeld promises to lift couch-based laziness to new heights for a new generation of connected home applications designed for the couch potato inside all of us.

About Expect Labs
Expect Labs provides a cloud-based service called MindMeld that enables companies to build intelligent voice interfaces for any application or device. Hundreds of companies use this service to power next-generation, voice-driven experiences that enable users to quickly find and navigate information in a range of applications. Expect Labs has been widely recognized as a leader in the field of anticipatory computing and was named by MIT Technology Review as one of the world's "50 Smartest Companies" of 2014.

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