Patent suggests Siri could make itself louder or quieter based on noise

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Siri on HomePod mini
Siri on HomePod mini (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Siri could shout or whisper as needed in the future, according to a new patent.
  • The patent explains that Siri could change its volume based on the amount of noise in the room.

A new patent could lead to Siri being able to increase or decrease its volume based on the amount of noise in the surrounding area.

First spotted by AppleInsider, the Patent Application was only just published and appears to suggest that Siri could learn to whisper or shout in the future depending on how much noise is in the room.

The audio appliance of claim 1, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the appliance to select a playback volume according to the classified speech mode, the one or more cues, or a combination thereof, and to output the synthesized speech at the selected playback volume.The audio appliance of claim 1, wherein the instructions to select a speech output mode further comprise instructions to select one or more speech synthesis parameters, the memory further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the appliance to: generate synthesized speech according to a speech synthesis model and the selected one or more speech synthesis parameters.

Patent talk aside, that simply suggests that Siri could learn to alter its volume to ensure that it can be heard. Likewise, it could reduce the volume if needed – specifically when the room is quiet, perhaps at night.

Even while Siri continues to grow, Apple's HomePod still isn't the best smart speaker you can buy. Hopefully features like the one this patent points to will help rectify that in the future!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.