Activation of voice-controlled apparatus

摘要

A method and system of activating a voice-controlled device (14) is provided which minimises the risk of activating more than one such device at a time where multiple voice-controlled devices exist in close proximity. To activate a specific device, a user (10) is required both to be facing the device (14) and speaking at the same time. The device is then activated, preferably only whilst the speaking continues and for a limited period thereafter. Detection of whether the user is looking at the device is effected using a microphone array. This array is, for example, composed of the microphones (16) of the individual devices (14), the devices being provided with short-range transceivers (56) for passing microphone data between them.