Voice Tech Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Giving Voice to Brands - Tobias Dengel, WillowTree Feb 10, 2020

Show notes

How do you choose a voice for your brand? Why is it important for brands to have a voice in the first place? And what are the things you need to consider when choosing a voice?

Today on the show, we welcome the CEO of WillowTree, Tobias Dengel, to answer these questions and give us a deeper insight into what the feeling is amongst the top tech execs about voice technology today. WillowTree is a leading mobile strategy, design, and app development company servicing Fortune 500 and Fortune 5000 clients like Pepsi, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and Time Warner (to name-drop a few!).

In this episode, we discover the demand, the debates, and the challenges facing the world of voice technology and the importance of using multi-modal interfaces. One of the most fascinating parts of this interview looks at designing the voice identity of a brand and how companies are deciding on the voice they use. Human or robot? Samuel L. Jackson or Angelina Jolie? Male? Female? Or non-binary voices? Here, we get into an interesting discussion on how stereotypes can be perpetuated by using certain voices and the push toward promoting the use of more neutral and non-binary voices in apps today.

We also take a dive into the topic of commerce, looking specifically at voice payments and how it is going to transform the future of mobile transactions. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a behind-the-scenes look at the conversations and questions that top agency and company execs are having right now, and a clearer view of the future of voice.

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Social Robot Counsellors - Jackie Andrade, Uni. Plymouth Feb 03, 2020

Show notes

Today on the show we welcome Jackie Andrade, Professor of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, and Leonie Cooper, a Ph.D. candidate at the university who is researching robot-delivered intervention to reduce procrastination. In this episode, we talk about how people communicate with robots, the role that robots can play in healthcare, and how robots can change human behaviour and influence us to take the right actions.

We begin this discussion by taking a broad look at the psychological support that can be delivered through humans, and how that can be delivered through technology. We then dive into the motivational interviewing concept – a counselling method that helps people resolve thoughts, feelings, and insecurities to help them find the internal motivation they need to change their behaviour. We then take a look at Jackie and Leonie’s study, which involves an adorable-looking NAO Robot. We head into all the details around their paper which looks at how motivational interviewing using a NAO Robot was received by patients.

One of the most fascinating parts of this conversation is learning more about the technological design decisions made for voice, movement, expression, and interaction of the NAO Robot and why Jackie and Leonie specifically decided against using speech detection. We also unpack the debate about whether social robots will ever replace human therapists, as well as the surprising benefits and the challenges that come with talking to robots as opposed to humans. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a better understanding as to why we need social robot counsellors in the first place, leaving you with the question: How does this make you feel?

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Sponsors:

Voice of the Car Summit << 30% off with VOICETECHCARL
Robocopy Train the Trainer Bootcamp << 10% off when mentioning the Voice Tech Podcast

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Auspices of Agencies - Skilled Creative, Vixen Labs, Seedcube Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

Three of the world's leading digital agencies share their experiences in the world of voice, at the Project Voice 2020 conference.

Brandon Kaplan of Skilled Creative in New York tells us how Fortune 500s are using voice right now, and how voice is quickly becoming an essential component of larger marketing campaigns. We discuss data capture, marketing responsibility, voice SEO and much more.

James Poulter of Vixen Labs gives us an update on the state of play in the UK, and reveals some of the metrics that brands use to track the ROI of voice projects. He also launches Voice Masters, a new interactive training course.

Gaurav Kishore of Florida-based Seedcube shares his do's and don'ts for voice design, explains why he built his latest product to convert newsletters into audio, and reveals how fish tank management is being disrupted with voice!

Links from the show:

Sponsors:

Manning books << 40% off all books code: PODVOICETECH19
Dabble Lab voice development videos

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Payments & Voice - Checkout.com & Adyen Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Today we bring you two in-depth conversations from the Slush Mega Conference in Helsinki, Finland. In this episode, we’ll be talking with two giants in the payments space, Guillaume Pousaz the founder and CEO of checkout.com and Pieter van der Does, the CEO of Adyen.

During our conversation, we discussed their opinions on voice payments — whether they were excited about it, whether they see it playing a role in the payment system in the near future, what challenges they foresee, and whether their customers are even asking about voice payments yet.

We also discussed whether they plan to integrate their systems with the voice platforms for the foreseeable future, diving into biometrics, two-factor authentication, and much much more! A huge number of insights were shared in our conversations and we are really excited to bring it to you today.

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Robocopy Conversation Design Course << 50% off code: VOICETECH50

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Automotive Voice Design - Shyamala Prayaga, Ford Motor Jan 13, 2020

Show notes

Today on the show we welcome Shyamala Prayaga, the product owner for the Autonomous Digital Assistant at Ford Motor. In this episode, listeners will gain some insight into where voice tech is heading from the auto manufacturer’s point of view.

Shyamala will share about her background in design and why she moved into the voice field, and then she outlines some of the major use cases for voice in the car and the current challenges with the implementation of voice. She discusses the factors to consider when designing for car voice assistants, introduces us to the idea of full-size remote-controlled cars that operate through teleoperation, and gives her take on integrating with parties versus developing your own assistant from scratch.

Tuning into this episode, you will also learn more about biometric identification, data privacy and security, and much more. Shyamala has also launched a new book called Emotionally Engaged Digital Assistant, so be sure to check that out!

Links from the show:

Shyamala Prayaga’s Website
Shyamala Prayaga on LinkedIn
Shyamala Prayaga on Twitter
Shyamala’s Book: Emotionally Engaged Digital Assistant
Ford Motor Company
Voicebox Technologies Corporation on LinkedIn
CodeSmart
Siri
BMW
GM
Waze
Tesla

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Conversation Design Mastery - Hans van Dam, Robocopy Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

On the show today we welcome Hans van Dam, the co-founder of Robocopy, a company that trains and certifies conversation designers all around the world. Hans begins by explaining to listeners what exactly conversation design entails and why it is important in the context of conversational AI technologies.

We cover the various areas that conversation designers need to understand and consider, including technology, psychology, language and empathy, and then Hans gives us a breakdown of the Robocopy process that he and his team have refined by working with brands over the years. Tuning in to this episode, listeners will also hear more about starting a career in conversation design and how we can apply this function in teams.

We talk about the online conversation design course itself – a program that teaches you to write natural language dialog for chatbots and voice assistants.

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Sponsors:

Project Voice << 30% off code: VOICETECHCARL

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Project Voice 2020 - Bradley Metrock, Score Publishing Dec 26, 2019

Show notes

Today on the VoiceTech Podcast we welcome Bradley Metrock, the organizer of Project Voice 2020. Bradley is CEO of Nashville-based Score Publishing, which helps creators find their voice. He founded podcast network VoiceFirst.FM hosts the popular show This Week In Voice, published More Than Just Weather And Music: 200 Ways To Use Alexa, and produces the company's series of VoiceFirst Events.

Bradley has been cited as a leading thought leader on voice-first technology and AI, speaking regularly on its profound impact on our world.

Our conversation today mostly revolves around Project Voice 2020, we also discuss some of Bradley’s above-mentioned ventures. He talks about his views on what he sees as the trends in Voice at the moment and lays out his predictions for 2020.

It’s a really interesting and intriguing conversation we had, so be sure to keep listening! Also, check out the link below for 30% off Project Voice 2020 tickets.

Links from the show:

Sponsors:

Project Voice << 30% off code: VOICETECHCARL
Manning books << 40% off all books code: PODVOICETECH19

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★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Sound of the Police - Anthony Tassone, Green Key Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

Today’s guest is Anthony Tassone, founder of Green Key, a startup that builds artificial intelligence to optimize sales, trading, and a growing list of other services. Green Key uses voice technology to structure conversations into actionable data toward the end aim of generating insights and powering automation. They also work with police officers and first responders, helping them to leverage the power of voice to go hands-free, thereby improving the speed and safety of operations.

Our conversation focusses mostly on the topic of how Green Key voice-assists the police. He explains how NLP is transforming the emergency services sector by enabling officers to use voice technology to fill out reports or conduct searches and queries in a hands-free manner. It then enables them to access that data later while at the wheel or on the street. We also talk about some privacy implications and how Green Key avoids them through the provision of an on-premises solution. In the example of the Police, it provides an on-demand recording microphone rather than one which is always listening.

Anthony covers some machine learning processes which enable Green Key to construct its collections of domain-specific jargon libraries as well. You’ll also discover why voice isn’t always the best output method, and how Green Key scaled up from its initial role in the financial sector to servicing new markets. This is a great episode and one you are going to want to hear.

Links from the show:

Sponsors:

Manning books << 40% off all books code: PODVOICETECH19
Project Voice << 30% off code: VOICETECHCARL

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Voice & Chatbots in Healthcare - Nathan Treloar, Orbita Dec 02, 2019

Show notes

Today on the VoiceTech Podcast we welcome Nathan Treloar, who is the founder and president of Orbita. Orbita is a Boston-based company that provides software to improve patient engagement in digital health through voice-first and artificial intelligence solutions. Nathan is a highly respected speaker and authority in the field of voice-first healthcare technology and has advised many large-scale companies and government agencies on the subject.

This in-depth and fascinating conversation covers the current state of voice and chatbots in the healthcare sector, the many ways that voice services can improve the quality of medical delivery and much more. We talk about some of Orbita’s case studies, the advantage of voice technologies and a few of the product features of the company. We also get into the security and privacy issues that are so prevalent in fields that require ‘always-on’ devices and how the HIPAA regulations aim to curb hazards in this regard.

Nathan does a great job of unpacking the complex set of concerns around big tech, trust, and health data, so for this eye-opening discussion about the future of healthcare as we know it, be sure to listen in!

Links from the show:

Sponsors:

Project Voice << 30% off code: VOICETECHCARL
ReadSpeaker TTS
Robocopy Conversation Design Course << 50% off code: VOICETECH50

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★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Slush 2019, Helsinki, Finland Nov 24, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, you'll hear me talk with six of the hottest startups at the Slush 2019 tech conference in Helsinki, Finland.

These include: a mobile app and Alexa skill to track your carbon footprint from your purchases; an automatic podcast creation product that uses text to speech to transform your blog posts into full podcast episodes; a wonderful UK startup that helps children to say what's on their minds and report abuse; an ID verification system that makes you pull funny faces to authenticate; a multimodal human emotion detection system from Russia that measures speech, gesture, heart rate and breathing to outperform some of the big tech players; and a super cool tactile sensor that lets you communicate with your autonomous car by touching it in different ways.

It was an amazing event, and the Finns are justifiably proud of Slush, with over 25,000 attendees from around the world, and easily taking the title for best looking tech conference. It was surprising how few voice startups there were at the event, until I realised that both Alexa and Google Assistant do not support the Finnish language. And while they all speak perfect english, their accent can cause problems with the speech recognition.

Links from the show:

Slush http://slush.org/
Enfuce carbon tracking Alexa skill https://enfuce.com/
Tacterion tactile sensors https://www.tacterion.com/
Neurodata Lab emotion tracking https://neurodatalab.com/
Mind of my Own children's app https://mindofmyown.org.uk/
Get ID verification https://getid.ee/
iSoft automatic podcast creation https://isoft.ai/
Peakon https://peakon.com/
Peakon Presentation on YouTube https://youtu.be/CSiZnqFTW14?t=4447

Sponsors:

Manning books: https://www.manning.com << 40% off all books code: PODVOICETECH19
VoiceTech Paris 2019 tickets: http://bit.ly/35Mo3tv << 20% off code: VT19-VTECHPOD

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