Wake wordhotword
A wake word is a spoken phrase that turns a listening device on, like "Hey Siri" or "Alexa". A small always-on model listens for that one phrase and ignores everything else until it hears it.
Wake words solve the problem of starting a voice interaction when there is no key to press: a speaker on a shelf, a phone in a pocket. The detector is deliberately tiny and deliberately narrow, tuned to one phrase, so it can run constantly at very low power without transcribing the room.
For desktop dictation, a wake word is usually the wrong tool. You are sitting at a keyboard, so a key is faster, more precise, and never triggers by accident. Hands-free dictation on a computer is better served by voice activity detection: arm the tool once, and it starts when you speak.
Wake word versus voice activity detection
Both are always-on listeners, and both run small models, but they answer different questions. A wake-word detector asks "was that my phrase?" and treats everything else as silence. A voice activity detector asks "is that speech at all?" and treats every utterance as a potential dictation. The first is for waking a device that is otherwise asleep; the second is for a tool you have already told to listen.
The privacy question
A wake-word detector has to hear everything to catch the phrase, which is why the question with any always-listening product is what happens to the audio it decides was not the phrase. On a well-built device it is discarded on the device within moments. The recurring news stories about smart speakers come from the moment after the wake word, when audio is sent to a server, and from false triggers that send audio nobody meant to send.
In Flit
Flit has no wake word and never listens for one. Hands-free mode is armed by you and driven by voice activity detection.
How Flit starts →Questions
Fair questions.
Does dictation software need a wake word?
On a computer, no. A key you hold or tap is faster and never misfires. Wake words exist for devices without a keyboard. Hands-free dictation at a desk is better done with voice activity detection, which starts on any speech once you have armed it.
What is the difference between a wake word and a hotkey?
A hotkey is a physical key you press to start listening. A wake word is a phrase the device is always listening for. The hotkey is exact and private; the wake word is convenient when your hands are not on a keyboard.
Where this shows up on flit.fyi
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