Siri’s Original Voice Returns in Persona 5 Strikers as Virtual Assistant Emma
The popular new Persona 5 Strikers video game has a familiar voice even if you’re not much of a gamer. Susan Bennett, the first voice of Apple’s Siri voice assistant, cameos as Emma, the in-game virtual assistant.
Persona Emma
Bennett voiced Siri even before Apple bought the startup that developed the voice assistant. Apple iPhone users were introduced to her voice when Apple integrated Siri into the iPhone 3S as part of iOS 5. Siri continued using Bennett’s voice until iOS 7 came out. The current voice of Siri sounds similar but is distinct when you listen to it versus the ads for the iPhone 4S or how Emma sounds in the video game. You can play Persona 5 Strikers on PC, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. Voice assistants are such a common part of many people’s lives that the incorporation of a voice assistant into a video game is fairly common when the game takes place in the present or the future. Having that voice be one people actually associate with a real voice assistant just adds a fun extra layer to the game.
Voice Gaming
There are a lot of ways to combine voice and Ai with video games that are not quite as obvious as literally including the voice of Siri, of course. AI’s role in video games can often include voice, and voice-specific games are becoming more sophisticated all of the time. For instance, you have to be careful how loud you are while hunting ghosts in the horror video game Phasmophobia as the spectres can track down a player by listening for their voice and tracking their location. Voice AI isn’t just for antagonists, either. A mod for Star Wars: Squadrons gives the player the chance to issue vocal orders to AI co-pilots voiced by famous actors like Michael Dorn, also known as Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The haunted house story in Earplay’s audio game The Orpheus Device evokes a similar atmosphere to Phasmophobia, while Pac-Man Waka Waka translates the classic arcade game to smart displays and asks players to give commands in Pac-Man’s native ‘Wakanese.’ Meanwhile, a fan of Skyrim made a trailer voiced solely by synthetic voices built to imitate the original actors but with an entirely new script.
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Speak Too Loudly While Playing Phasmophobia and Video Game Ghosts Will Hunt You Down