La virtual assistant technology it advances by giant steps, especially in recent years. Siri was introduced in iOS 5 in 2011 and since then the evolution has been constant although it seems that some assistants surpass Apple's in these latest versions. The use of assistants is becoming mandatory among users and that implies investment to develop new innovative technology.
Today a new patent published by Apple in 2016 in which we see how Siri could hear us even if we spoke in a whisper. But not only that, but it would detect the tone and volume used and He would answer us as we would have spoken.
Siri could learn to whisper in future updates
The central idea of this patent is based on the fact that the virtual assistant would recognize the user when they are whispering. This is difficult since currently Siri has trouble hearing us on some occasions but Apple, in its patent, assures that the technology of iPhones would allow to amplify the sound and determine the frequency and power with which the user invokes the virtual assistant .
This function could be used in quiet environments such as meetings or libraries. This would be taken into account since Siri would respond in the same tone that we would have spoken with in a whisper. In this way, privacy will be maintained since currently the sound of the assistant only varies if we modify the multimedia volume of iOS.
This patent was published last year but you have to take into account what we always tell you: it is a patent. Not all patents filed by companies are implemented or perhaps not as prematurely as we think. It is an innovative function that could be functional for most of the users but it doesn't have to be seen in iOS 12.