The Linux Foundation Launches the Open Voice Network, Promises Privacy at the Heart of Its Standards
An official Foundation project, the Open Voice Network aims to encourage the development and adoption of open standards.
The Linux Foundation has announced the launch of the Open Voice Network, a collaborative project aiming to develop and promote open standards in the field of voice assistants — and it's got some big names among its founding members.
"Voice is expected to be a primary interface to the digital world, connecting users to billions of sites, smart environments and AI bots," claims Mike Dolan, senior vice president and general manager of projects at the Linux Foundation, of the new group. "It is already increasingly being used beyond smart speakers to include applications in automobiles, smartphones and home electronics devices of all types."
"Key to enabling enterprise adoption of these capabilities and consumer comfort and familiarity is the implementation of open standards. The potential impact of voice on industries including commerce, transportation, healthcare and entertainment is staggering and we’re excited to bring it under the open governance model of the Linux foundation to grow the community and pave a way forward."
That's where the Open Voice Network comes in. Under this Linux Foundation project, members will aim to develop and promote open standards for everything from voice recognition to voice synthesis — and put privacy and data security at their heart.
The project counts Target, Schwarz Gruppe, Wegmans Food Markets, Microsoft, Veritone, and Deutsche Telekom among its founding members, with each having committed resources for research, awareness, and advocacy activities, and agreeing to actively participate in symposia and workshops. The Linux Foundation's open governance model, meanwhile, means contributions will be welcomed from the wider community too.
"To speak is human, and voice is rapidly becoming the primary interaction modality between users and their devices and services at home and work," says Ali Dalloul, general manager for Microsoft Azure AI Strategy and Commercialization. "The more devices and services can interact openly and safely with one another, the more value we unlock for consumers and businesses across a wide spectrum of use cases, such as Conversational AI for customer service and commerce."
More details on the project are available on the Open Voice Network website.