Source: worked on 3rd party Alexa speakers
Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
21–30 of 61 posts
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#22The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself. Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits that are timed close to the time you say “Alexa” yourself. Even harder: have a second detector that is trained on the device saying “Alexa”, and discard hits that coincide with that detector firing. That second detector can be simplified by superimposing a wavef…
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#23The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself. Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits that are timed close to the time you say “Alexa” yourself. Even harder: have a second detector that is trained on the device saying “Alexa”, and discard hits that coincide with that detector firing. That second detector can be simplified by superimposing a wavef…
Could two Alexas be put next to each other hailing themselves into eternity.
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#24This is the same problem as echo cancellation on calls. This is something that built into a lot of software and hardware.
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#25The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself. Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits that are timed close to the time you say “Alexa” yourself. Even harder: have a second detector that is trained on the device saying “Alexa”, and discard hits that coincide with that detector firing. That second detector can be simplified by superimposing a wavef…
I’ve interrupted my Echo with “Alexa, stop” or “Alexa ” while it is speaking. So it doesn’t stop listening when speaking.
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#26Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#27This is achieved using Acoustic Echo Canellation (AEC). This essentially subtracts the output of the speaker as well as reverberations from the room from the microphone input. Here's a youtube video explaining the basic principle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJKGrheOoY4 Source: worked on 3rd party Alexa speakers
it also has uses in noise canceling headphones, voice conferencing software, and radar/sonar in some cases.
No LLMs or deep learning at all - purely DSP!
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#28Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#29Anyone actually pull this off?
Re: Ask HN: How does Alexa avoid interrupting itself when saying its own name?
#30The simple solution: switch off the code that listens for the “Alexa” prompt when saying “Alexa” yourself. Slightly harder: keep it running, but discard hits that are timed close to the time you say “Alexa” yourself. Even harder: have a second detector that is trained on the device saying “Alexa”, and discard hits that coincide with that detector firing. That second detector can be simplified by superimposing a wavef…
Wouldn't it be simpler to add noise above 20kHz and ignore the key phrase if the noise is present?