Nest's Smart Smoke Detectors Won't Be As Polite To Americans As They Will Be To British People
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Like its thermostats, Nest's smoke detectors will be much more enjoyable to install and use than the household objects we're currently used to. For example, instead of beeping loudly at the slightest hint of smoke and being difficult to turn off, all you have to do is wave your hand in front of the device to tell it you're safe.
Nest's smoke detector also uses an automated voice, like Apple's Siri, to tell you what's happening in your house.
Fadell says his team hired a bunch of voice actors to create five different kinds of voices that will resonate better with each Nest owner. The dialects include American-English, American-Spanish and British-English. Fadell says Nest "localized tonality of the voices and also localized what the voices say."
That means, the British voice will be much more proper than the one United States owners will hear.
"So in the U.S. it will say, 'Heads up! There' s smoke in the kitchen.'" Fadell explained. "In the UK it will actually say, 'Please be aware there's smoke in the kitchen.'"
Fadell says the goal of each voice was to sound "authoritative" and "motherly."
Disclosure: Enterprise Ireland kindly sponsored Business Insider's trip to cover WebSummit and F.ounders.
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