Science & Technology

Google Developing "Conversational Search"

Search in the form of a question, response spoken

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Google has issued an update to its Chrome browser that lets you use everyday language like "how do I get there?" to interact with its search — and lets the browser respond vocally as well. It's still an early form of what the search giant demonstrated on stage at Google I/O, but it's an indicator of features to come.

The live demonstration last week had Google's Johanna Wright planning an afternoon in Santa Cruz, asking about places to eat, things to see, and how long it would take to drive between them. And the catch was that not only was she only using voice, but she was using words like "there" and "it" instead of, for example, the name of the restaurant.