Firefox Voice: An Open and Extensible Voice Assistant Built Upon the Web
Julia Cambre, Alex C. Williams, Afsaneh Razi, Ian Bicking, Abraham Wallin, Janice Tsai, Chinmay Kulkarni, Jofish Kaye · 2021
Voice assistants are fundamentally changing the way we access information. However, voice assistants still leverage little about the web beyond simple search results. We introduce Firefox Voice, a novel voice assistant built on the open web ecosystem with an aim to expand access to information available via voice. Firefox Voice is a browser extension that enables users to use their voice to perform actions such as setting timers, navigating the web, and reading a webpage’s content aloud. Through an iterative development process and use by over 12,000 active users, we find that users see voice as a way to accomplish certain browsing tasks efficiently, but struggle with discovering functionality and frequently discontinue use. We conclude by describing how Firefox Voice enables the development of novel, open web-powered voice-driven experiences.