Taxing gatekeepers~I
By 2016-17, Facebook had designed a business model that aimed at maximising the ‘user engagement’, that is how much time users spent on their platform, and started collecting data on what they liked and shared.
Samsung India on Tuesday launched a digital campaign showcasing the capabilities of its digital voice assistant – Bixby.
For the campaign, Samsung has used a short film inspired by the life of a Motor Neuron Disease (MND)/ALS patient Sonal (name changed) who agreed to let Samsung work on a pilot project to help preserve her voice forever for her daughter.
Advertisement
The campaign shows a loving mother who is diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (MND)/ALS and is losing her voice and ability to move. It shows how Samsung customises its artificial intelligence (AI) enabled Bixby technology to keep her voice alive on a Samsung smartphone so that her daughter can continue to hear her voice.
Advertisement
“The endeavor is to solve real-life problems of consumers through meaningful innovations. This film depicts how Samsung can make the seemingly impossible, possible by using its AI voice assistant, Bixby to preserve the voice of a mother who is diagnosed with MND,” said Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung India.
Josh Seokjin, Senior Art Director, and Alberto Rodriguez, Senior Copywriter, from Cheil HQ Global Creative Division said in a statement, “We are developing the first ever personalized AI voice assistant – Bixby to help people affected by Motor Neuron Disease leave their voices for their loved ones before they lose it…We are delighted to see the heartwarming response that the film is getting and we are looking forward to perfecting the technology and inspiring many others.”
For this project, Samsung Research Institute, Bangalore (SRI-B) worked with a company which specialises in core speech technologies. They recorded an independent voice and using TTS (Text To Speech) technology tested that voice for compatibility on Android OS (Samsung Smartphone). Testing on Tizen OS (refrigerator, television) is in progress. This phase led to the discovery of Asha Ek Hope Foundation, the first registered NGO for MND/ALS in India. It is a non-profit organisation supporting people with MND and their families.
Advertisement
