Smart Speakers are part of pop culture in the UK
It's a normal Wednesday evening after just finishing a day full of meetings talking about Amazon Alexa. The TV is on ITV in the other room
and I happen to hear Chas from Emmerdale asking Alexa for the weather.
Chas from Emmerdale asking for the weather using Alexa
What is Emmerdale?
For Non-British readers, Emmerdale is a television soap drama about the normal lives of several families in a Yorkshire village. Well, minus
the murders, arson, robberies, fraud the list could go on. Other than that, it's a pretty normal village. I haven't watched Emmerdale for
years, so to see the soap evolve with the technology that we use today is refreshing to see. Emmerdale is just an example of showcasing how
voice assistants fits into everyday life.
The UK is a growing market
There has been an increase in households owning smart speakers in the UK. So it should be normal for television shows to include smart
speakers as a prop. https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2021/06/08/voice-assistants-in-more-than-half-of-uk-homes/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/956343/ownership-of-smart-speakers-uk/
Conclusion
Will this start to be a regular occurrence for television in the UK. In the US, we have seen many examples of Alexa being used in media, Mr
Robot being one of them. This is an exciting time for voice, but there is still a long way to go.