The Future Is Now! - Amazon Echo recordings used in investigation

The future is now!

Amazon’s Alexa has been called as a witness by prosecutors in a double murder trial. The judge is ordering Amazon release everything recorded by an Echo device during a 3-day period when the owner was killed.

The court has reason to believe Alexa caught some audio of the attack and body removal. Alexa records anything said after you say her name, and sends it to the cloud. If she doesn't understand it, she still stores the recording. In this case, they think Alexa may have been triggered by something that sounded like her name, thus recording the moments that followed as it waited for instructions.

 So, you could at technically any time shout "Alexa" during a problem and she'll document a few moments of audio. Alexa also has “whisper mode”. So if someone broke in, you could whisper "Alexa, I heard a window crash and two male voices are in the kitchen," and she'd whisper back "I don't understand". It wouldn’t blow your cover for them to hear, but technically would document your comment the could be used for future evidence should it be subpoenaed. Even if someone smashes the device, it'd still be in the cloud.

 

The future is now!

It’s a future where passwords are physical. Meet Microsoft's Authentication Key. It’s a little chip you carry, and plug in to log into your Microsoft accounts like Outlook, skype, Xbox Live. Hackers would have to physically get the key to hack you. Yes, security has come full-circle, back to actual keys.

 

The future is now!

Welcome to a future where robots clean toilets, taking over those jobs no one really wants to do. It’s not a household product yet, but this device at the World Robot Summit shows you how it's done. The robot uses a camera to know it's a toilet, wipes the seat and floor around it, cleans everything, and even picks up paper scraps.

 

The future is now!

Artificial intelligence is now making commercials. There’s an ad for Lexus, written entirely by AI. There's no audio, but the computer came up with the concept and characters all on its own. It’s the first time it's ever been done.  The Hollywood director that used the script said he was sure he'd have to rewrite it. He was pleasantly surprised that he did not.

 

The future is now!

In the near future, you can go for a walk without leaving the house. Google is patenting virtual reality roller skates. Think of moon walking with a VR headset on, where it makes you feel and see that you are walking somewhere else. Sensors would match your steps with movements you make in the virtual world.