Intel shows method to wake up Windows 10 PC with voice command Cortana

Intel has demonstrated a feature to wake up a Windows 10 PC from standby mode by shouting Hey Cortana. The digital assistant in Windows 10 can then wake the computer from standby.

The technology works via an audio DSP in the PC that can always listen to voice commands, according to the demo on the Intel Developer Forum. Intel and Microsoft call the feature “wake-on-voice.” When the PC is completely turned off, the function is unusable, but in standby mode it works and during the demonstration, the PC showed the desktop after a few seconds.

The function is not entirely new, because Intel already touted ‘wake-on-voice’ as a feature in the Core M processor line that it announced last year. What’s new is that it integrates with Cortana in Windows 10, something that was not possible under previous Windows versions. The technology will arrive in PCs with Intel processors starting this fall.