Intel: Voice Recognition Will Phase Out Touch

Touchscreen technology yet to go fully mainstream.

Intel Senior Vice President Mooly Eden believes voice recognition technology will eventually make touch obsolete.

Eden, who manages the firm's "perceptual computing" operations, told Cnet that voice recognition will do to touch what touch has done to physical keyboards, which is, according to the executive, making a number of components unnecessary.

"Voice is the best means of communication between humans," Eden said. "We finally have enough compute power to do what we want from science fiction."

Intel is currently working with partners on developing such devices, as well as hardware, software, cameras, among other features. While they acknowledge voice is still an emerging technology, Eden believes it could overtake touch in three to five years.

During CES, Eden demoed features such as an eye-tracking "Where's Waldo" game, which sees the camera determining where exactly users' eyes are focused. It also showcased other games that follow hand movements and allows users to pick up and drop virtual objects.

"Everything is going to be immersive," Eden said. "I'd like you to work with the computer the same way you work with me.... I want you to say 'I'm not ashamed that I love my computer.' Imagine how many people who are afraid of computers will be able to use them."

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