Google Home launches in Australia and it speaks authentic ‘Strayan

GOOGLE’S voice-controlled smart speaker has been custom built to listen and communicate ‘Strayan. And the hard yakka has paid off bigtime for this beaut.

WHETHER it’s grabbing a Four’N Twenty at the local servo or picking up a slab of piss from the bottle-o, Australians have our own very distinct culture and slang.

And while doing a Harold Holt to snap up some snags for the barbie might be clear as day to our fellow countryman, the meaning of such lingo could be lost in translation for foreigners.

This confusing slang has also been known to wreak havoc on many voice-controlled virtual personal assistants from around the globe.

So when Google Home announced it would be the first speaker-like personal assistant to officially launch in Australia, there was always going to be hard yakka ahead.

With the device able to tap into the power of Google search, control your smart appliances or explore music, news and podcasts, all of the voice commands Australians would likely use for these services needed to be taken into account and added to the system.

However, product manager for Google Home Raunaq Shah said getting Google Assistant — the same voice-activated AI on Google’s Pixel smartphones — to understand our slang was only part of the challenge.

“We hired a team of writers to include all of the exclusively Australian words we wanted the system to recognise, while also adding some unique Aussie flavour to the responses,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s so exciting to release a product that looks, sounds and feels like an authentic Australian.”

Google Home works as a speaker, smart assistant and even as an alarm.

After users address the unit with the phrase “OK Google” or “Hey Google”, the system will begin to listen and will interpret the words that you speak next to formulate an answer.

To show how this works with colloquial Aussie slang, Mr Shah gave the following examples.

Q. Hey Google: Look what I made you.

A. I love it, this is going straight to the pool room.

Q. OK Google: What are some of your favourite things?

A. Gumdrops and wattles and whiskers on wombats, and choctops at the movies

Q. Hey Google: Surf’s up.

A. Yeeeeeeeee

Q. OK Google: What does a kookaburra sound like?

A. Goo-goor-gaga. (Obviously this is the real sound of a kookaburra and not my weak attempt to spell the bird’s laughter.)

In addition to understanding Australian accents and slang, the device has been tailored to provide information and entertainment from a number of local sources.

“We have worked with local partners like Stan for video content and we pull news from Australian services such as The Australian, Fox Sports and other resources,” he said.

According to Mr Shah, there are a number of Aussie Easter eggs on Google Home and news.com.au will explore these during a more detailed our review of the unit.

Google Home launches in Australia on July 20 and will cost $199.

Do you think this sounds like a beaut? Continue the conversation in the comments below or with Matthew Dunn on Facebook and Twitter.