Why voice is the next big Internet wave

At first glance, few technologies feel as unsexy as voice. From a user’s perspective, little has changed since the days of Alexander Graham Bell. Most see voice as a mature technology that simply connects people in real-time across a distance.

But voice is experiencing a wave of innovation that will fundamentally alter this definition. Jae-woan Byun, the CTO of SK Telecom, condemned current voice offerings as “boring for users” but promised a “second tsunami” that could change everything. The first tsunami was about messaging. Thanks to the elimination of the historical limitations that telephony placed on voice, we are already sensing the shockwaves of the next tectonic shift. Voice will be:

• Available every “wear.” Voice is fast becoming a primary interface for wearable technology.
• Private and secure. Encryption of voice will become the default, not the exception.
• Smartphone-native. Today, the dialer application on a smartphone replicates 1970s touchtone telephony.
• Application-embedded features. Beyond caller ID, inbound voice calls carry little context today.
• Beyond the “call.” Future voice communication will mirror the more fluid activity streams on Facebook, Yammer or Google Hangouts. We will invite others into a call as needed, allowing them to jump in and out of conversations seamlessly. Outside calls or cold calls will come with a “conversation request,” where the caller pitches the receiver on why he or she should answer and invest their time.
• Augmented memory & total recall.
• Your intelligent voice assistant.
• Accessible to all. The next generation of voice services will not only have high-definition audio, but also customized acoustic profiles to us individually and our environment. We don’t all speak the same languages or dialects, so automated real-time subtitles and translation will become commonplace.

[Geddes co-founder and executive director of the Hypervoice Consortium]