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More than 1 in 10 consumers want voice commands for their toilet

Our fascination with voice assistants continues to grow - but do we use them for complex tasks, or simply to play music?
Written by Eileen Brown, Contributor

Amazon's recent launch of Echo Show and Fire TV Cube, is in clear response to our demand for voice enabled devices. The voice revolution currently shows no signs of slowing down.

According to Chicago, Il-based PR agency Walker Sands' recently released "Future of Retail 2018" report, 64 percent of those who own a voice-controlled device use it at least once a week and nearly one in five (18 percent) use their voice-controlled device at least three times a day.

Owners of voice-controlled technology continue to buy more devices and use them more frequently than non-owners of the technology.

Almost two in five (39 percent) reported that they own at least two voice-controlled devices, and seven percent reported owning four or more devices.

Despite the voice hype, consumers do not their devices for complex tasks. More people have used them in the past year to play a song, or to hear jokes, than to connect to their smart home (57, and 25 percent vs. 19 percent).

Purchasing by voice is rising. Of the consumers who own a voice-controlled device, 50 percent have made a voice-controlled purchase in the past year. Overall, 36 percent of consumers say they're at least somewhat likely to purchase a product via voice in the next year.

More than 1 in 10 consumers want voice commands for their toilet ZDNet
Walker Sands

We tend to deploy voice devices in the living room (57 percent) followed by the kitchen (33 percent) and Master bedroom (27 percent). Fourteen percent of respondents have deployed voice assistants in the bathroom.

And respondents would like to see more hands-free commands in the car (41 percent), on TVs (38 percent), with in-home appliances (24 percent), and in the shower (19 percent). A further 13 percent of consumers wanted more voice-controlled options for hands-free commands while on the toilet.

Consumers who do not have voice, intend to buy a voice enabled device. Over one in five (21 percent) of consumers say they are at least somewhat likely to purchase a voice-controlled device in the next year.

Your voice assistant will soon become more than just a tool to learn what the weather forecast is going to be.

Alexa, Google home, and others will become your all-encompassing personal assistant that can restock the fridge for you, decide what clothing styles will suit you best, organise your diary and connect to your friends.

Your challenge is letting the assistant carry out the tasks that you currently do for yourself.

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