Learn How Voice & Visual Technology Is Helping At Home In VOICE Talks Presented By Google Assistant

ARLINGTON, Va. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --  In the last year, sales of smart home devices have skyrocketed. Those devices supported by Google Assistant alone have risen 1,900 percent, from around 1,500 to 30,000 during the period of January 2018 to May 2019, according to a February 2020 Research and Markets study. Now, as people incorporate smart displays into their daily lives at home for education, entertainment, home management, and more, this number is expected to rise even further. The sixth episode of VOICE Talks Presented by Google Assistant titled "Smart Displays - When Visual Meets Voice at Home," examines how the combination of visual and voice technology is integrating into our everyday lives and making daily routines more seamless and effortless. Viewers will hear from experts and technologists such as Rebecca Nathenson from Google Assistant, John Kelvie of Bespoken and Dave Rudnick from VIZIO. Register to watch episode 6 and be part of the growing VOICE Talks community.

"Now that we are spending so much time at home due to coronavirus restrictions, the impact of smart homes devices is all encompassing -- from trying out new recipes step-by-step, playing games, video chatting with friends, organizing educational activities, and seeking out the latest in entertainment," said Sofia Altuna, host of VOICE Talks.

The episode begins with host Sofia Altuna setting the stage by highlighting the advancements of voice interfaces at an exponential rate in industries, ranging from healthcare to banking. Launched in 2018, Smart Displays pair an interactive screen with Google Assistant to enhance the smart home with a visual experience for seeing recipes, getting the weather, playing music or controlling your smart home devices.

In the "Keynote" segment, Rebecca Nathenson, Director of Project Management and the Developer Platform for Google Assistant at Google, will discuss how smart displays upgrade the voice assistant with tactile and visual features. She will then be joined by Graham Sidwell, Head of Product Development at Pottermore to hear more about Quidditch Through the Ages application for Smart Displays. They will discuss how Quidditch and other platforms used by Pottermore incorporated voice into its stories as the usage of audiobooks evolved and how Smart Display with interactive visuals is the new way to engage with your audience. They will also talk about how you measure success through user engagement.

The "Product Deep Dive" segment features Alex Selig, Product Manager for Nest, who will discuss Smarthome for entertainment devices. Then, in the "Partner Spotlight" segment, subscribers will learn about the benefits that VIZIO and its customers have seen since its integration with Smart displays in a discussion between Katelyn Mason, Global Business Development, Smart Home, Google Assistant and Dave Rudnick, Senior Vice President Interactive/Monetization at VIZIO.

Providing the "Ecosystem Update" is John Kelvie, CEO and Co-Founder of Bespoken, a world leader in automated testing and monitoring tools for voice experiences. In his segment, John shares his insights into how Bespoken tests for best practices in Smart Displays and how the complex question-answering capability plays a role in determining the best device for your home.

The episode concludes with a fan-favorite -- the "Ask the Experts" segment. Jessica Dene Earley-Cha, Developer Advocate at Google, answers questions from the VOICE Talks community about how to develop rich responses and theme customization to make the most out of the screen.

For media inquiries, please contact Liz Stein at [email protected].

About Google Assistant:
Available on more than 1 billion devices, in over 30 languages and more than 90 countries, Google Assistant helps more than 500 million people every month to get things done at home, in their car or on the go. People all over the world can have a natural conversation with their Google Assistant and ask for help with things like play music, turn on the lights, or start a favorite TV show.

About VOICE Talks:
Launched in March 2020, VOICE Talks is a monthly video conversation with experts about the state of everything "Voice" and now has a global community of nearly 70,000 subscribers after just six month. Each episode includes interactive conversations with experts, product deep dives, trends, and insights across voice technology. The program is hosted by Sofia Altuna from the Global Product Partnerships for the Google Assistant, and to date, topics covered include education, entertainment, accessibility and inclusion, building for the voice experience, how brands are using voice to talk to customers. This series is produced by Modev for Google Assistant. To learn more, please go to https://www.voicetalks.ai.

SOURCE VOICE Talks