Google Assistant & Google Home at Google I/O 2018

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Google Assistant

6 min readMay 20, 2018

It’s been a busy three days in Mountain View, as more than 7,000 developers attended Google I/O 2018 at Shoreline Amphitheatre this year. Here is an exhaustive recap of everything Google announced about Google Assistant, Actions on Google, and Google Home.

Keynote announcements

Naturally conversational: Six new voices, natural & unique

But with advancements in AI and WaveNet technology from DeepMind, we can now create new voices in just a few weeks and are able to capture subtleties so that voices are natural-sounding and unique. You can now choose from six new voices for your Google Assistant. There will even be some familiar voices later this year including John Legend.

Naturally conversational: Continued Conversation

Continued Conversation lets you have a natural back-and-forth conversation without repeating “Hey Google” for each follow-up request. Google Assistant will be able to understand when you’re talking to it versus someone else, and will respond accordingly.

Naturally conversational: Multiple Actions

With Multiple Actions, Google Assistant can understand more complex queries like: “What’s the weather like in New York and in Austin?”

Naturally conversational: Pretty Please

With Pretty Please (powered by Family Link), Google Assistant can understand and encourage polite conversation from children to help you give your little ones some positive reinforcement when they ask nicely.

Visually assistive: Smart Displays

Smart Displays (coming in July) are a new category of devices built for the home that let you quickly glance at responses provided by Google Assistant. In addition to accessing it hands-free by voice, you can now also tap and swipe the screen. Smart Displays come integrated with Google services like Calendar, Maps, and YouTube.

Visually assistive: New visual experience for phones

Google redesigned the Google Assistant experience on the phone. Assistant will give you a quick snapshot of your day, with suggestions based on the time of day, location and recent interactions with Assistant.

Visually assistive: Navigation in Google Maps

Google Assistant is coming to navigation in Google Maps with a low visual profile so you can keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. You’ll be able to send text messages, play music and podcasts, and get information without leaving the navigation screen.

Google Duplex

Google Duplex is a new capability within Google Assistant to you help you make reservations, schedule appointments, and get holiday hours from businesses. You can simply provide the date and time, and Assistant will call the business to coordinate for you. Learn more on Google AI blog: https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/05/duplex-ai-system-for-natural-conversation.html.

Google Assistant in 80 new countries & Google Home in 7 new countries

By the end of the year, Google Assistant is coming to 80 new countries. Also, Google is bringing Google Home and Google Home Mini to 7 new countries: Spain, Mexico, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Developer keynote announcements

Digital subscriptions from Google Play

Google added support for seamless digital subscriptions so your users can enjoy the content and digital goods they bought in Google Play Store right in your Action on Google.

Customizable visuals for display surfaces

You can now fully customize the appearance of your Actions on Google for visual surfaces by controlling the background image, defining the typeface, and setting color themes used in your Action, and more. These changes will be available on phones, TVs, and Smart Displays. Learn more on Google Developers website: https://developers.google.com/actions/assistant/responses#customizing_your_responses.

App Actions & Built-In Intents

With App Actions, your Android app can be recommended to users as a way to fulfill their needs at the moment they need it the most. You can associate capabilities and content in your app to the built-in intents provided by Google or define your own custom intents. Learn more on Android Developers website: http://developer.android.com/guide/actions/ and Google Developers website: https://developers.google.com/actions/discovery/built-in-intents.

Action Notifications

Google is expanding support for Action Notifications so users can get notifications on smart speakers and Smart Displays. Learn more on Google Developers website: https://developers.google.com/actions/assistant/updates/notifications.

Action Links

Action Links are hyperlinks you can use anywhere — your website, emails, blog, or social media channels — that deep link directly into your Action. When you have something new to share, you can spread the word and drive engagement directly into your Action on Google from across the web. Learn more on Google Developers website: https://developers.google.com/actions/console/publishing#linking_to_your_actions.

Routine Suggestions

With Routine Suggestions, after someone engages with your Action on Google, you can prompt them to add your Action to their routines with just a couple of taps. Learn more on Google Developers website: https://developers.google.com/actions/assistant/updates/routines.