Here is an interesting experiment that Google is kicking on its smart display: Voice is a command without hotword. Nest home hacker Jane Boromes has a detailed video on YouTube about the facility, which has a proven track record of scoring early smart display features before being announced.
Boromez’s Nest Hub Max is somehow in “dogfood” mode, meaning it receives early, non-public builds whose smart display software is for internal use only on Google. A special menu called “Dogfood Features” lists the “Blue Steel” feature that will allow the device to respond to commands. Without First say “Hey Google” hotword – you just say the command and it will respond. Boromez says the device will listen for commands “after the presence is detected”, so if someone is in front of the display, it will just start answering questions.
Today Google’s voice hardware always listens to this command, but only for the “Hey Google” hotword. Once it is detected, it will begin processing additional commands. Even more modern implementations use hotwords as a cutoff point for connecting to the Internet: “Hey Google” search is processed locally, and then anything will be uploaded, processed and stored on Google’s servers. Hotword also acts as a form of consent, not only by uploading the following words to the Internet, but also because it annoys the device to listen all the time and respond to every possible thing that can be interpreted as a command.
