Amazon Echo Show 10 Gets 'Conversation Mode' for Natural Interactions

Alexa Gains More Natural Conversational Abilities

Amazon has announced the rollout of a new Conversation Mode for its Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen.) devices. This feature enables the virtual assistant to participate in more fluid, natural dialogues without the constant need for the “Alexa” wake word.

Users can activate and deactivate this mode through voice commands, providing control over when this functionality is engaged.

Introducing Alexa Conversations

The introduction of Alexa Conversations followed announcements made at Amazon’s hardware event last year. Rohit Prasad, Amazon VP and head scientist, showcased Alexa’s enhanced capabilities, including more personalized responses and the ability to ask for clarification.

Furthermore, Alexa demonstrated an improved capacity for taking natural turns within a conversation.

Challenges in AI Conversation

While these interaction styles are commonplace for humans, they present considerable hurdles for artificial intelligence systems. Successfully navigating these complexities requires advanced AI processing.

Real-World Application: Pizza Ordering

Amazon demonstrated the practical application of Conversation Mode with a scenario involving a pizza order. Two individuals discussed their preferences, occasionally speaking over the virtual assistant.

Alexa accurately identified desired toppings, even responding to cues like “that one!” to refine the order. The system also distinguished between questions directed at it and those intended for the other participants, such as inquiries about pizza size.

How Amazon Detects Intent

The company explains that Amazon leverages both visual and acoustic signals to determine when speech is directed towards the device and whether a response is expected. This is a complex task, as questions can be ambiguous, intended for either a person or the AI – for example, “How about a comedy?” during a movie selection discussion.

Low latency is also crucial for accurately detecting the beginning of utterances intended for Alexa, as opposed to relying solely on the wake word trigger.

Visual Device Directedness

Amazon developed a method for visual device directedness by estimating the head orientation of individuals within the device’s viewing range. This allows the system to better understand who is addressing the device.

A deep-neural-network model was trained to analyze images and determine head orientation. The model’s size and execution time were optimized through weight quantization, resulting in an almost 80% reduction in the false-rejection rate for visual device directedness detection.

Audio-Based Voice Activity Detection

In addition to visual cues, Amazon employs an audio-based device voice activity detection (DVAD) model to process audio signals. This helps determine whether Alexa should respond to incoming speech.

Combining visual and audio analysis reduced false wakes caused by ambient noise by 80% and decreased false activations triggered by Alexa’s own responses by 42%, all without increasing latency.

Using Conversation Mode

To initiate Conversation Mode, simply say, “Alexa, join the conversation.” A solid blue border will appear around the Echo Show 10 screen, accompanied by a light blue bar at the bottom, indicating that requests are being sent to the cloud.

To end the mode, say “Leave the conversation.” Alexa will also automatically disengage if no interaction occurs for a short duration.

Development History

Amazon has been actively developing this conversational technology for a considerable period. A beta version of Alexa Conversations was presented to Alexa Skills developers in July 2020.

This allowed developers to create voice applications that support more natural conversations, enabling users to interact with Alexa using their preferred phrasing. Prior to this, Amazon introduced Follow-Up Mode, which allowed for multiple commands without repeated wake word invocation.

Official Launch

Although announced last year, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch that the new Conversation Mode is officially launching today. The Echo Show 10 is the first device to receive this innovative feature.