Microsoft has made another app for Android and this time it’s an alarm. Microsoft’s Mimicker Alarm for Android is one of the creations of Microsoft’s Project Oxford team. But this isn’t just any alarm, it’s one that requires you to play a game before the alarm gets shut off.
With the introduction of this app, Microsoft wants you to play a game to wake up and stay up. There are three games to choose from and the alarm app lets you play any one of them before turning the alarm off. You only have 30 seconds to complete the game, if not, the app will assume you’ve fallen back asleep and the alarm will start ringing again.
The three games available in the app are colour capture, express yourself, and tongue twister. In colour capture, the app will display a colour and the user will need to take a photo of an object with that colour. Express yourself will show the user an expression and the user will then need to take a selfie with that facial expression. There is also the tongue twister, where users will need to accurately read the tongue twister out loud.
This may be an irritating alarm app, but it is also a showcase of how Microsoft is using machine learning in terms of audio and visual recognition. Besides that, the Project Oxford team has made its work open-source to allow others to see how the codes are being used. Those interested can download Microsoft’s Mimicker Alarm for Android from the Google Play Store.
(Source: Microsoft Fire Hose via The Verge)
