High technologies are developing at a rapid pace and every day the necessary and attractive new products appear on the market of digital goods and services. Voice assistant Alice from Yandex is a real breakthrough in computer networks.

Our today's article will be about this amazing brainchild of programmers. We tried to consider all the innovations of the technology and the description of the functionality, and many other important points in this material.

The history of the creation and launch of Alice

So, let's get acquainted: Alice, a voice assistant from Yandex. This application manages to successfully simulate live conversational speech (both oral and written), give advice and answers to questions posed by reproducing them by voice or writing on the screen. The creators of this miracle confidently declare this program as the most advanced digital assistant with an unlimited number of response phrases, which pleasantly distinguishes it from other analogues in the Internet space.

You can even just chat with a virtual lady. Type the command "Alice, let's chat" and enjoy communicating with the computer mind. This has become a new entertainment for numerous visitors to social networks, where they post fragments of especially funny dialogues.

Not so long ago - in the spring of 2017 - a beta version of the speech assistant of the Yandex search engine appeared. After all the tests and improvements, the service was officially launched in October of the same year. V.V. also spoke with this voice assistant. Putin, when he visited Yandex.

How was the testing done

The creation of a virtual voice application is related to the idea of ​​implementing advanced assistance functions for users to search for the information they need on the Internet. Ideally, the assistant should understand verbal commands and respond to them accurately.

The development of technologies underlying such services is not distinguished by maximum perfection. But even the level at which they are currently able to impress with their functionality.
Alice, Yandex's voice assistant, is able to communicate in a question-and-answer format. And at the same time, she finds the answer to many questions in the same Yandex.

Using a huge number of phrases selected from search queries in Yandex, this voice assistant gives the impression of artificial intelligence.

What principles and technologies is the program based on?

Today this application is implemented everywhere, which allows all owners of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets to use it. And now the voice assistant in Russian "Alisa" has significantly expanded the boundaries of its use.
Some sound parameters are used in the program as the main algorithms for human speech recognition. For example, the frequency and length of sound waves (or a single sound wave) at a certain point in time are recognized and recorded.

Based on artificial intelligence and using neural communication technologies, Alice fits perfectly into the company of other services from Yandex. The neural networks that are included in the voice assistant technology platform are trained by interacting with users. This is what became the basis for the "advancement" of the new assistant in modern youth slang. Additionally, when creating this brainchild of science, the technology of machine learning and the construction of neural connections was actively used.

Where and how to enable voice assistant Alice

To start using this application you need:
Download application for computer or laptop

For a smartphone, it is downloaded from Google Play services, or the AppStore.
To install, run the downloaded distribution.
After that, you need to click on the blue button next to the microphone icon.


By speaking the requests into the microphone, the user will receive a voice response from Alice and also responses in text format. If the program does not have an answer, it smoothly redirects the user to the relevant Yandex page.
When the application is installed, the following picture will appear on the device screen:


The welcome phrase "Hello, I'm Alice, your voice assistant" indicates that the application is ready to start working. Then we click on the microphone and voice our question. We advise you to pronounce phrases clearly and not "swallow" sounds. Otherwise, the program may misinterpret the question and give, accordingly, a not entirely relevant answer.
To call a new assistant, use the panel that appears at the bottom of the screen.

When using the assistant on a personal computer, it additionally becomes possible to configure the main parameters of the program. Right-click on the voice assistant panel. You are now in the program settings. Now install all Alice's features for yourself for ease of use.

It becomes easier to get answers to many questions when the voice assistant Alice from Yandex is at hand. Alice is a personal assistant with artificial intelligence developed by Yandex, an alternative to competitor Okay Google. Alice easily helps to cope with everyday tasks and has a meaningful dialogue.

The program is created on the basis of neural networks that recognize speech, accents in the voice, create responses and synthesize the assistant's voice. Thanks to such skills, Alice is able to improvise and communicate in a spoken language accessible to everyone. With each subsequent update of the voice assistant, Alice has new opportunities and now, in addition to performing search queries.

If you are bored or sad, she will joke, tell a joke or play with you. Would you like to watch a movie? Easy - movie posters, tickets and prices in an instant. For children, Alice can include a fairy tale. Her answers will always be varied, the creators of the application have worked for a long time and were able to put modern live speech into the voice assistant, which will be understandable to many.

Alice is voiced by Russian actress Tatyana Shitova thanks to her voice acting Alice turned out to be very lively. Sadness, joy and even audacity can be traced in her intonations.

This is not the whole list of her capabilities, she is constantly learning new skills and improving herself.

You can find out about all the skills of the Assistant by saying: Alice, what can you do, the application will display a list of her capabilities.

How to start voice assistant Alice

You can talk to Alice by clicking on the purple icon or say one of the phrases:

• Hello Alice
• Hello Alice
• Alice let's chat / talk
• Listen Alice

After waiting for the activation sound, you can ask a question or command.

Most often, users ask Alice

• Let's play
• Sing a song
• Make a riddle
• The weather for tomorrow
• Turn on YouTube
• tell me a story
• Play cartoons
• tell a joke
• Find a song

If you just want to chat, you can say: Hi Alice, let's chat or ask her what's new or find out how she's doing. She will support the dialogue, joke or tell an anecdote. With simple communication, she will not always be able to perform the search mode. Therefore, you can exit and start the search function again or give the command with the word Enough.

You can also try Mail.ru with its own functionality and capabilities.

Screenshots of Yandex with Alice

• Yandex was able to create a convenient application for Android smartphones with which you can have fun and get quick access to information thanks to voice communication.

  How to install Alice

  1. Download the Alice application from the link below.
  2. Install the application.
  2. Allow the application to determine the geolocation.
  3. For full-fledged work, allow to record sound.
  4. For ease of use, you can put a widget or shortcut on the home screen.

Add to calendar 07/30/2019 18:30 07/30/2019 21:00 Europe / Moscow Alice, let's chat about testing St. Petersburg, Piskarevsky prospect, 2k2Shch, Yandex office, 5th floor

Alice, let's chat about testing

Program

• Participants

On July 30, the St. Petersburg office of Yandex will host an event "Alice, let's chat about testing."
It's 2019, we are surrounded by voice assistants - including Alice from Yandex. Alice is available in various services and smart devices - not only in columns. The meeting will allow you to learn about the entire ecosystem around the voice assistant, about the smart home and solutions from other companies. Central theme: testing of such systems, its features and main challenges. In between reports, you can chat with speakers and other developers from Alice's team.

Registration is required. We will offer all those invited to complete the task of testing the assistant - the winners will receive smart speakers from us.

Alice is a free voice assistant for simplifying everyday tasks from your phone: finding an organization, getting directions, searching for information on the Internet and much more. The application is a direct competitor to Google OK and Siri services.

Alice will answer any questions of the user (for those that she does not know the answer - she studies and searches on the Internet), and also helps to get to the house by building a route for drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or by paving the way on public transport.

Alice was developed by Yandex and is accordingly synchronized with all the company's services: maps, navigation, weather, movie poster, browser, etc.

The assistant is convenient when there is no way to enter data into the phone, for example, at -40, print on the smartphone which bus is going to a certain stop - just call it with the command "Listen, Alice!" and ask for the bus number. In the case of searching for a store or cinema, the procedure is the same: the voice assistant will find everything that is on the card.

• determine the caller's phone number: which region and city, mobile operator, organization of 5 million and other parameters;
• prompt weather forecast accurate to the region, report the latest news, notify of important messages;
• lay out routes: for cars, cyclists, pedestrians and call a taxi;
• find any places nearby: pharmacies, shops, cinemas, theaters, parks, etc.;
• just chat about life and even play.

Downloading, installing and using the Alice application on Android is simple - first of all, you need to download the APK file or through the Google store using the links below. Then install as a regular program and run. That's all! Now the assistant is in your Android phone.

Take out your phone, hold it to your mouth and say: "Listen, Alice!" or "Hello, Alice!"

You can download the program both separately and in combination with any service. For example, the assistant can be activated in Navigator or installed as a separate Yandex.

To activate the assistant in the browser, just click on Menu - Settings - Voice capabilities - enable.

For all other cases, links are available below where you can download Alice's voice assistant in Russian for free for Android devices (smartphones and tablets).

To start a conversation, launch the application and say: "Hello, Alice" (or press the button with the microphone).

When you press 👎, Alice prompts you to report the problem to the developers. If you pressed 👎 by mistake or change your mind about complaining, select No, everything is ok.

Alice doesn't understand me

If Alice does not recognize your words correctly (the text appears on the screen, which you pronounced), try to move the microphone closer and say the phrase more clearly. If Alice still shows the wrong text, press 👎 and select the option My speech was not recognized... In mobile applications, text can be typed manually - to do this, press the keyboard icon on Alice's screen.

If your speech is recognized correctly, but Alice answers out of place or clearly does not understand the question, press 👎 and select the option The answer does not match the question.

Alice mispronounces the words

To tell the developers about the pronunciation error, press 👎 under Alice's answer and select the option Incorrectly voiced text.

Alice is rude

Alice tries to answer each question individually - there is no strict correspondence between question and answer. An inappropriate answer can offend or seem like a bad joke. Please let us know: click 👎 under Alice's answer and select the option you want (for example, The answer is offensive or offensive).