guideXiaomi Discovery Lab has officially announced the character image of Xiaomi AI speaker "Xiao Ai Classmate": a red-haired mecha girl with "MI" logo on her chest. For this image, Tang Mu, vice president of Xiaomi Smart Products, said that Xiao Ai’s image is full of technology and looks like a girl next door, cute and familiar, in line with all his fantasies. It is reported that the Xiaomi AI speaker has ended the public beta and will start mass production on September 4. It is expected to be fully sold by the end of September.
"Xiao Ai Classmate" took half a year to name
The name "Xiao Ai Classmate" sounds very ordinary, but it took half a year for Xiaomi to set such a name for Xiaomi AI speakers internally. At the internal communication meeting, Tang Mu said that since the release of Amazon Echo and its popularity, Xiaomi has conducted research internally and conducted a detailed analysis around the wake-up word "Alexa", and finally concluded that the wake-up word should meet three criteria: first, the accurate wake-up rate is high (no wake-up rate is clear); second, the no wake-up rate is low (not too close to common language); third, the best four syllables (to ensure the wake-up experience).
On this basis, there are Xiaomi Nana, Nightingale, Sister Xiao Ai, Matterhorn, Xiaomi Junjun… The appearance of "wake-up words" one by one, and finally the wake-up word "Xiao Ai classmate" is determined. Tang Mu also revealed that the reason why "Xiaomi Nana" was rejected was because people with Lei Jun’s Hubei accent would shout "Xiaomi Spicy".
In the future, Xiao Ai will "walk out" of the speaker
Xiao Ai is a 17 or 18-year-old young girl with a height of 165CM. Her Asian face has a European and American feel, and she is familiar with both technology and connotation.
Tang Mu said that the goal of "Xiao Ai Classmate" is an AI open API. In the future, "Xiao Ai Classmate" will step out of the speaker, not only to access a variety of services, but also to help other hardware manufacturers build AI software and hardware products.
Tang Mu revealed that the Xiaomi mobile phone carrying Xiao Ai will be launched in the first half of next year.
What are the functions of Xiao Ai Classmate?
Tang Mu said that since the release of Xiao Ai Classmate, he has avoided talking about the topic of content cooperation many times. At the "Xiao Ai Classmate" debut event, Xiaomi announced five content partners: Sina Weibo, News and Finance, Get, Evernote, ORIONSTAR and First Time.
Through "Xiao Ai Classmate", Sina Weibo, Sina News and other content can be broadcast by voice; currently, you can also listen to "Xiao Ai Classmate" if you get Shangluoji’s thinking course.
It is reported that Evernote is also about to complete the connection. As long as you say to Xiao Ai, "Open Evernote", every word of the user will be converted into text and recorded into Evernote. In terms of technology, ORIONSTAR provides TTS technical support for Xiaomi AI speaker "Xiao Ai Classmate".
In addition, "Xiao Ai Classmate" has access to common first aid knowledge. For example, if a user burns at home, he directly calls Xiao Ai Classmate, "What should I do if I burn?" "Xiao Ai Classmate" will broadcast medical knowledge orally and provide help as soon as possible. This content is provided by "First Response", an organization dedicated to family first aid knowledge training and life rescue. This year, First Response will deploy 60,000 "life-saving artifact" AEDs in communities in multiple cities to treat sudden cardiac arrest.
But at present, the core "music" of smart speakers has not been finalized by Xiaomi. Tang Mu said that music copyright is now rising, and with the popularity of smart speakers, licensing is more difficult than ever. However, this difficulty is definitely temporary. When the craze subsides, the most desired partner of music copyright owners will definitely be the largest-selling smart speaker manufacturer.
"Xiao Ai Classmate" currently supports more than 40 functions. It can not only provide a large number of online music, novel cross talk, children’s stories, radio stations, but also your artificial intelligence life assistant and smart device control center. "Xiao Ai Classmate" can check the calendar, broadcast music, play control, record memos, find mobile phones, etc. In addition, "Xiao Ai Classmate" can also control TVs, boxes, sweeping robots, rice cookers, air purifiers, electric fans, smart lights and other Xiaomi and ecological chain devices. Even if it is not a Xiaomi product, Xiaomi AI speakers can be easily controlled through Mijia smart sockets, plug-in boards, Aqara wall switches, air conditioners and significant other lighting products.
Three Strategies of Xiaomi Exploration Lab
In 2016, Lei Jun announced the establishment of the Xiaomi Discovery Lab (MILAB), which represents the cutting-edge black technology power of Xiaomi. The Xiaomi Discovery Lab has three open APIs: WIFI +, AR/VR +, AI +, and the landing products are Xiaomi Smart Router, Xiaomi VR Glasses, and Xiaomi AI Speaker from the Smart Products Department. Next, the Xiaomi Discovery Lab will launch the "Xiaomi Discovery Program" to carry out exploratory cooperation in space, public welfare, characters and brands.
Tang Mu said, millet router as millet company platform-level products released in November 2013, so far the total sales exceeded 15 million units, online connected devices more than 300 million, in the smart router market in a leading position; millet VR glasses from August 1 last year, the first public beta so far, its sales have exceeded 1.50 million units, products equipped with two VR APP platform, video content more than 5000, more than 100 online applications.
Xiaomi AI speaker is the first product of Xiaomi Exploration Lab this year and the first product in the field of AI. According to Tang Mu, Xiaomi AI speaker started public beta on August 15 this year. A month later, the data disclosed by Xiaomi AI speaker shows that the 24-hour appointment public beta information broke 1 million, the search volume exceeded 50 million in 7 days, and the search volume exceeded 100 million times in 14 days.
Regarding the price of 299 yuan for "Xiao Ai Classmate", Tang Mu admitted that as the first generation of smart speakers, its price is actually the cost of product stacking + factory processing. The pricing is radical because we hope to spread the product on the track as quickly as possible, so that more end points can enter the family. This is a speed competition. Whoever can ship faster and who can sell more will win in this competition.
Tang Mu set a 1 million entry volume for Xiaomi AI speakers. At present, Xiaomi AI speakers have ended the public beta and started mass production on September 4. It is expected to be fully sold by the end of September.