Google voice search can understand Indian accents

Tired and frustrated at Google Voice commands not recognizing your thick Indian accent? Worry not. On Tuesday, Google said that Google Now voice search supports Indian accents. Google said that the new technology would help the voice search recognize the commands better even if they are spoken in heavily-accented manner but in English.

To make Voice Search more India-centric, Google worked with over 700 volunteers in India, collected spoken utterances. “Our volunteers are asked to read popular search queries in a variety of acoustic conditions such as in restaurants, out on busy streets, and inside cars, to best reflect real life and the role Search has in helping connect users with relevant information they need to go about their day,” says Google in the release.

“From asking Google where you can watch the latest movie to finding out cricket scores at the touch of a button, Google is there to help you get the answers you need. We’re delighted to showcase the improvements we’ve made to Search for Indian users today. These features demonstrate Google’s commitment to India and to continually improving Indian users’ search experience, “said Mr. Sandeep Menon, Head of Marketing, Google India.

The Google Voice Search feature is available for all users running Android version 2.3 onwards, for users of the Google Search app on iOS, and also on desktop computers via the Chrome browser. To access Voice Search, go to Settings within the Google search app, select Voice>Language> choose English > English (India), and you’re ready to go.