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Future Smartphone Technology Will Make Today's Siri Look Simple

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Smartphones have come a long way in a short time, but experts say you haven't seen anything yet.

As CBS 2's Maurice DuBois reported, in the pipeline are smartphone apps that seem almost beyond imagination – and the smartphone revolution could just be beginning.

Siri is the personal assistant on your iPhone, and she seems to know everything, as tech expert Lance Ulanoff demonstrated.

"How did the Patriots do on Sunday?" Ulanoff asked Siri.

She responded, "The Patriots overcame the Texans by a score of 41 to 28."

She even has a sense of humor. If you ask her to marry you, she says, "My licensing agreement does not cover marriage. My apologies." Or she might say, "Let's just be friends, OK?"

Ulanoff, of Mashable.com, said Siri has found a useful place in the world.

"Siri can help people do a variety of things, and more quickly than they would do otherwise," he said.

Dag Kittlaus helped develop Siri, and he said in the future, similar voice recognition technology will be the only way to communicate with some computers.

"As everything shrinks, the interface turns out to be impossible to use with your hands … so you end up talking to the computer," he said.

Kittlaus said we ought to get ready for some stunning developments. For instance, some computers of the future won't even have a screen.

"Maybe at some point in the future you've got something just whispering in your ear," he said.

Your phone might be able to monitor your health.

"Your phone will tell you to call your doctor," Kittlaus said.

And technology is coming to let you feel virtual fabrics, or even smell cologne online, Kittlaus told Ed Curran of WBBM-TV, CBS 2 Chicago.

And some home printers might soon be able to create 3-D objects might change pizza delivery forever – in a phenomenon akin to the "Star Trek" replicator.

"You send me an email that has an attachment that might be a pizza. I don't just print out a picture of a pizza, I'm printing out the real thing, and it's gonna be hot, it's gonna be steaming, and it's gonna taste exactly like the real thing," Kittlaus said.

On the roof of the Kittlaus home is the ultimate office: a cupola with a sweeping vista.

Ulanoff said it's a future with a boundless possibility that will make every day that much easier.

"The computer of the future means a better life - a better life in pretty much every way you can," he said.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are working on technology to allow the brain to control computers.

Now, you might be wondering -- just who is Siri? Kittlaus would only tell Curran her voice came from a corporate partner who creates computer voices through thousands of hours of work. One woman's voice is at the heart of it, chosen because they liked the personality in her voice.

WBBM-TV was hoping to find her, and even narrowed it down to a woman in Boston who does voice work, but she denied being the voice of Siri.

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