Voice UI - the future of your morning routine

We're told that the next frontier for human-computer interaction is Voice UI.

When it doesn't make sense to hold a device or controller, but you need things to happen or content to appear, Voice UI is going to be your friend.

To most people today, Voice UI is a frustrating and flawed experience. Only Amazon seem to have got it nearly right with Echo/Alexa. But give others time to catch up and refine their voice recognition and we'll have a host of usable, maybe even vital voice interactions:

In the car - to control audio entertainment, to communicate and to navigate whilst keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road:

"Which is the quickest way to work today? I need petrol and a Starbucks"

In the kitchen - recipe directions, appliance control with doughy hands:

"I've added the eggs, what's next? Oh, and set the oven to 190 for half an hour then to 150 for 90 minutes"

In the lounge - media control, atmosphere settings, dimming the lights, drawing curtains, bumping the heating up a notch:

"Find a Schwarzenegger film, but family friendly. Movie-night room settings please."

In the bathroom - infotainment, house control, day planning:

"Show me my meetings. Ok, move the review with Jim to Tuesday. Show me news related to my morning meetings today. 
Has the dog been fed yet?"

In the bedroom - sleep maximisation, based on sleep phase, calendar and sunrise time:

"Early start tomorrow, up between 7 and 7.30, unless Dave sets an early meeting. Dark now"

At work - setting reminders, adding to lists, communicating:

"Remind me to get milk on the way home. Add parmesan to the shopping list. Text Jake to ask about beers on Thursday. Call the Doctor before 5.30."

On holiday - logistics and planning, poolside with sun-creamy hands:

"Where are the kids right now? Tell them dinner is at 8. What can we do tomorrow? Ok, book the scuba trip for 3 of us."

In presentations - for setup and note taking:

"Connect everyone to the WebEx. Dial out to John's mobile. Record the role-call, update Salesforce."

Whilst travelling:

"Tell me when to start walking to the gate. Text Jenny when I land and when I get to the hotel."

Whilst exercising:

"Set pacer to 7 minute miles. Alert every half mile and if heart rate goes above 180."

It'll take a bit of getting used to, and we need to find a better way to initiate the listening mode than saying key phrases. The software needs to be context aware, handle natural language, understand inference, know my preferences and have access to my data, apps and other devices. It also needs to respond only to my voice, and keep all this private and secure. If they can add some personality to the experience, that might not be a bad thing either!

Your new affordable voice assistants: Google Home, Apple Homepod, Amazon Echo

I'm starting to like the way the future looks and sounds. To steal a strap line from our second favourite smartphone company... un-box your phone. Start talking to it, rather than tapping on it, and see where it can take you.