Apple has acquired Q.ai in a deal estimated around $2 billion. Though there’s still a lot we don’t know, some of the details surrounding Q.ai’s work have me very excited for the future of Apple’s AI and Siri offerings.
Apple’s latest acquisition, Q.ai, specializes in understanding ‘silent’ voice input
Apple acquires companies all the time, but it’s very rare for the company to make a splashy, expensive purchase like Q.ai.
The reported $2 billion purchase price makes Q.ai the second biggest acquisition in Apple’s history. It only trails the $3 billion Beats acquisition over a decade ago.
Yet despite the big price tag, there’s a lot about Q.ai’s work that’s shrouded in mystery.
As 9to5Mac Editor-in-Chief Chance Miller wrote, the company has “built machine-learning tech for audio and ‘silent’ voice input.”
Its website has the tagline: “In a world full of noise we craft a new kind of quiet.”
Israeli technology site Geektime dug into patent details to uncover Q.ai’s work. Here’s the translation:
According to its patent applications, the company appears to be working on reading what is being said, not using voice, but by using optical sensors that detect muscle and skin movements in the face, to translate them into words or commands. Some of the patents indicate the use of a headset that also examines the user’s cheek and jaw, and will apparently allow you to talk to Siri, Apple’s voice assistant, using only lip movements.
This technology is expected to be integrated with smart glasses and/or earbuds such as AirPods.
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