Microsoft has patented 'silent' voice commands to address privacy concerns

[Windows Central]

While voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana continue to develop, no company seems to have considered how awkward it can be to issue commands in public. Until now.
One of the most fundamental problems with phone-based voice assistants is how awkward it can be to use them in public. As much as I use my Harman/Kardon Invoke at home to control smart lights, get calendar info, and create Cortana reminders, I pretty much never use her on my Android phone for one pretty simple reason, it's just a bit ... weird, to do so in public at least. Apparently, Microsoft agrees, as the company has patented a module that can detect "silent" voice commands.

Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...