Xbox One May system update: Help Microsoft improve Kinect voice commands by opting-in to speech data collection

The Xbox One May system update will let you opt-in to a speech data collection, which should help Microsoft improve Kinect’s speech recognition and voice commands.

As Xbox One owners know, Kinect allows you turn on the device, go to a particular app, and perform other actions simply by speaking to it, but it doesn’t always work. Allowing Microsoft to collect your speech data should help improve this feature.

“The more voice samples we have to input into our algorithms, the better and more responsive Xbox One can be to our fans,” Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb explained in a post to Xbox Wire.

Again, Xbox One will not collect this data by default after the update. You’ll have to opt-in by setting Share Voice Data to Allow under the Privacy & Online Safety settings. Microsoft also said that all voice data shared via this setting will be used for product improvement only.

The May update, which will begin rolling out to users in the early access program this week, will also add a sound mixer for apps. This will allow you to control the volume levels of two apps when you’re using snap and decide which is louder. It will also allow you to control the volume levels when using Kinect for chat.

Yesterday, Hryb said Microsoft still wants to add the ability to preload unreleased digital games to Xbox One, a feature that Sony added to the PlayStation 4 in the latest firmware update.

Emanuel Maiberg is a freelance writer. You can follow him on Twitter @emanuelmaiberg and Google+.
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