Here’s an interesting experiment Google is making on its smart screens: entering voice commands without a hot word. A video detailing the feature has been shown on YouTube from Jan Borromeoosh, A Nest Home hacker with a proven track record of logging early smart display features before they’re announced.
Borromeoosh Nest Hub Max Somehow it’s in “Dogfood” mode, which means it receives early, non-generic designs from Google’s indoor smart presentation software only. A special menu called “Dogfood Features” lists the “Blue Steel” feature that allows the device to respond to commands without Having to say the important word “Hey Google” first – just say a command and it will respond. Boromeusz says the device will listen for commands after “detecting presence,” so if someone is in front of the screen, it will start answering questions.
Today Google voice command devices listen all the time, but only the important word “Hey Google”. Once this is detected, it will start processing additional orders. The more modern apps also use the important word as a breaking point to connect to the internet – “Hey Google” discovery is handled locally, and anything next will be downloaded, processed and stored on Google’s servers. Word Important also acts as a form of consent, not only by uploading the following words to the Internet, but also because allowing the device to listen all the time and respond to everything possible can be interpreted as something that would be annoying.
