A voice user interface, or VUI (pronounced VOO-hee), is described as a technology that allows people to interact with a computer or device using spoken commands. VUI technology is evolving much faster than its predecessors (think keyboards, mice and touchscreens). It's estimated that 94 million people own a smart speaker in the U.S. alone, and anyone who has used a mobile phone or TV remote in the last five years knows stand alone smart speakers aren't the only place where voice user interfaces are prevalent. A lot of this growth can be attributed to the technology itself. The artificial intelligence that powers the natural language understanding (NLU) behind the voice-powered experiences of giants like Apple, Amazon and Google is nothing short of amazing, but it's not just the remarkable technology that is driving the growth. Consider that we as human beings have been using spoken language for no less than 200,000 years (by most accounts).

You're never really too young to start gaming, but some kids might struggle to get to grips with standard arcade machines. With that in mind, Arcade1Up is hoping to bring the joy of arcades to a new generation with its latest lineup of cabinets. The first two machines in the Arcade1Up Jr. line are centered around the Pac-Man and PAW Patrol franchises. The former includes a trio of arcade classics: Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug. The PAW Patrol system also features three games: Chase is in a Race, PAW Patrol Off Duty and PAW Patrol Pups on the Go!

This is the moment a robotic dog tries its metal paws at herding unruly sheep on a farm in New Zealand. Spot gathered together the animals before pushing them through the field, with the help of two biological sheepdogs. Developed by Boston Dynamics, it can reach speeds of up to 3mph and costs less than a car, which average £30,000, to lease, according to reports. It has been heralded as the future of farming. The robot was seen helping the dogs to keep the sheep together.

Sony's puppy-sized robot dog Aibo, equipped with cameras, artificial intelligence and internet capability, can now remotely check up on family members, children or even pets, the Japanese electronics giant said Wednesday. The 30-centimetre (one-foot) robopup with flapping ears and cutting-edge LED eyes will roam around the home at pre-designated times looking for family members. However, the latest canine tech does not come cheap, with a single dog costing nearly $3,000 for a three-year package, including software services such as data storage. The latest aibo model, which can also display'emotions', was released in January last year and sales hit 20,000 in the first six months, according to Sony The owner will receive progress reports via smartphone in the service offered from next month in conjunction with home security company Secom. 'You will be able to check how remote family members are doing or what children are doing when they get home,' project chief Izumi Kawanishi told reporters at the Sony headquarters in Tokyo.

Poaching is a serious threat to the conservation of key species and whole ecosystems. While conducting foot patrols is the most commonly used approach in many countries to prevent poaching, such patrols often do not make the best use of limited patrolling resources. To remedy this situation, prior work introduced a novel emerging application called PAWS (Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security); PAWS was proposed as a game-theoretic (``security games'') decision aid to optimize the use of patrolling resources. This paper reports on PAWS's significant evolution from a proposed decision aid to a regularly deployed application, reporting on the lessons from the first tests in Africa in Spring 2014, through its continued evolution since then, to current regular use in Southeast Asia and plans for future worldwide deployment. In this process, we have worked closely with two NGOs (Panthera and Rimba) and incorporated extensive feedback from professional patrolling teams. We outline key technical advances that lead to PAWS's regular deployment: (i) incorporating complex topographic features, e.g., ridgelines, in generating patrol routes; (ii) handling uncertainties in species distribution (game theoretic payoffs); (iii) ensuring scalability for patrolling large-scale conservation areas with fine-grained guidance; and (iv) handling complex patrol scheduling constraints.