Voice-Activated Computer Intercom from Synthigence

Well, it's 2002, so I guess it's to be expected that someone would unleash a program that talks to you like HAL in 2001. Synthigence's "Cynthia" is a voice-activated computer intercom that provides voice connections between networked computers. Cynthia lets computers work like a multi-station intercom system. The product sells for $49 for two users to $199 for unlimited users. To give you an idea of how it works, here's the CEO's quote from the press release: "I am at my computer and I want to speak with someone at a computer networked with mine. I say to my computer, `Cynthia, call Wayne', and Cynthia (the synthetic voice) speaks to Wayne saying, `Charles is calling.' If Wayne says, `Yes, Cynthia,' then we are connected and can speak to each other. When we're finished, I say `Cynthia, disconnect Wayne.'" Cynthia features room monitoring, simultaneous conferences among multiple users, and voice paging. Communication is established through existing LAN connections and there is no limit to the number of computers that can be connected or the number of simultaneous conversations. A mouse-driven GUI is also available for users who prefer it over voice commands. Future versions will include Video and Text conferencing, wide-area-network communications, and integration with email/voicemail. Cynthia is compatible with Windows 98, Me, 2000 and XP and requires a 500MHz Pentium II or faster CPU with a microphone and speakers for each computer. Multiple computers must be connected by a LAN supporting TCP/IP.