Voice-activated technology making inroads in Asia

Global research from WPP agencies J. Walter Thompson, Kantar and Mindshare finds that consumers in Asia’s fast-paced economy are leading the way in the adoption. 
“Voice is more expressive than touching or typing,” and the results from Speak Easy, a survey among 6,780 people in the US, UK, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Japan, Australia, China and Singapore reveal that nearly half of global smartphone users will use voice technology by 2020 and 47 per cent will use voice technology at least once a month,” Arpapat Boonrod, CEO of Kantar Insights Thailand, said.
“Ovum, a market-leading research and consulting firm, forecasts that globally, the native digital assistant installed base is set to exceed 7.5 billion active devices by 2021, which is more than the global population.”
Arpapat said: “Voice is the intuitive form of communication. Voice technology makes communication more natural, and in the future, people will interact more deeply with voice technology. 
“They also want voice technology as a buddy without having to make commands all the time. Meanwhile, voice buddy helps keep certain things a secret and ensures that your personal information won’t be leaked.”