Get smart with DW Discoveries

Ever heard of "fingerless interaction"? 

No? As jargon goes, it's pretty awful, isn't it?

But it's what I've come to call a new field in "voice interaction" — more jargon — and artificial intelligence, because it describes how we may all start to access media and other digital content.

We're slowly moving into an era when rather than click a mouse or swipe a screen, you may simply ask your device to give you the latest news or discoveries from your favorite trusted source.

And that'd be DW, right? Exactly.

It all started with speech assistants, like Google Assistant, Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and now many others around the world.

Speech assistants have been in our pockets for some time, and they are breaking into our homes, cars, everywhere.

More and more of us are engaging with digital assistants via voice-controlled smart speakers, phones, and increasinly speakers with screens — "visual speakers."

Think Google Home, Amazon Echo (Alexa), Apple's HomePod, who want to help you do simple things... like turn on the lights.

But you can now also get your daily fill of fascinating facts from science, health and the environment with DW Discoveries, starting with Google Home and its Assistant on smartphones.

Google says its Assistant is available on about 1 billion devices, so there's a good chance you've tried it.

And why not have a go with DW Discoveries? We've prepared these very handy action links to take you straight to DW Discoveries on Google or Alexa on an Amazon Echo device.

So that's at home and on the go.

In a collaboration between DW's science desk, the DW Lab, and Projects and Development, the German broadcaster, Deutsche Welle, has developed DW Discoveries to deliver carefully crafted science stories and observations with a personal touch. 

Meet the team

Join three of DW's top radio presenters and personalities daily for little nuggets of useful information to inspire and engage you.

Conor Dillon's got the latest science covered.

Charli Shield's making sense of what's healthy and what's not, guided by Jessie Wingard's trusty hand.

And Gabriel Borrud's on a trek of the environment, and he may just drop a bit of Newton on your head while he's at it.

So open up and say …

Science! Health! Or environment! And listen to cutting-edge research, interesting facts for everyday life, explainers, conversation starters, and background to what's in the news.

Choose one, or listen to all three. And if that's not enough, you will soon be able to jump into an ever expanding archive as it – and DW Discoveries – grows.

Each item is short – usually about 45 to 55 seconds in length – so it's easy to get your daily dose while dressing for work, kicking off your runners after a jog, or just to fill a minute while you wait for the next bus.

DW Discoveries is available via Google Home devices and your smartphone. 

Just say, "OK, Google. Open DW Discoveries!" or "OK, Alexa. Open DW Discoveries!" and the rest is revealed within the app.

You can ask for science, health or environment focused Discoveries. 

You can ask us questions too, but don't ask difficult stuff like "What's the meaning of life?" because we can't answer that. Not yet, anyway.

Try it! You'll see. 

Check in for updates on DW's audio shows Spectrum and Living Planet.