Cortana UI is like this now, why don’t you chat with it?

Hey, Cortana: Your mission is to make your daily life easier — at least when it comes to helping people use Microsoft Windows Phone and Windows 10.

But that's not all Cortana is about. Microsoft just gave it a new spin. In a blog post on Tuesday, Marcus Ash (whose title is long enough as planning manager for Cortana and search technologies in Windows PCs, phones and tablets) revealed that the Cortana UI -- that blue halo you've seen so many of you know -- will now flash and pulsate to represent 18 different emotions, half of which are pretty surprising. In fact, Cortana feels like a real person.

If you look closely, you'll notice that half of the Cortana emotion halos in the photo at the beginning of the article look almost identical. You can't tell which emotion Cortana is speaking with. So, it's hard to say what effect Cortana can achieve with this. Did my question just embarrass her? Was she having fun with me, or was she making fun of my stupidity?

But we are here to help you solve the above problems. In today's article, we will take a look at these 18 Cortana emotions one by one to help you understand what attitude she actually holds before various requests.

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1. Calm

Are you in a peaceful state of mind? Cortana can certainly do that, as shown below: she is immersed in a state of Zen.

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2. Optimism

Do you feel very lucky? Cortana feels the same way if her status is as shown in the picture below - the dark ring is in the light ring. Do you understand?

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3. Reminder

With Cortana, you'll never forget anything - as long as you remember the halo display method in the picture below.

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4. Upside down

Change is always exciting, and Cortana proved in the following image that she does have real feelings when she's upside down - just as the next generation of digital assistants should.

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5. Sensitivity (II)

Oops, Cortana sensed it! This is Sensitive (II). Don’t confuse it with Upside Down or Sensitive (I).

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6. Shame

My god, Cortana can't believe her ears, nose, mouth and hands! You just said such a stupid thing. But then again, this icon seems to be very similar to the previous upside down icon.

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7. Warning

Now it’s Cortana’s turn! She’s ready, are you?

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8. Happy

Finally, Cortana's icon display can directly reflect its emotional state. Happy~

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9. Need more information

Well... it looks a bit like shame, but why? Sorry, you need to give me more information, Cortana said, otherwise I can't answer your question.

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10. Elated

Cortana now feels good, great, and pretty good, and her inner halo has a narrowing effect at the top, like a bright balloon about to fly into the sky.

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11. Contentment

Oh yeah, good job, Cortana! Her satisfaction halo looks a bit like the Upside Down, Sensitive (II), and Optimistic icons, but she's still pretty proud of it.

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12. Considerate

Can Cortana help you with anything? Please, she won't be a bother. If you see the halo icon below, it means she's eager to serve you - unless you mistake contentment or sensitivity for thoughtfulness.

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13. Music Recommendations

We guess "music recommendations" means Cortana is ready to rock out. At least that's what the halo icon in the image below gives us. Or maybe it just means Iggy Pop - it doesn't make any difference.

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14. Optimism

This icon also reminds us of Iggy Pop. In any case, we don’t understand why Cortana uses two halo effects to represent the same optimistic meaning. Maybe she is a digital assistant who always likes to think on the positive side of things.

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15. Listen

Whatever you want to say, tell Cortana. She's all ears. Or maybe she's just being optimistic or thoughtful.

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16. Sensitivity (I)

We all have different ways of expressing our sensitivities, and Cortana is no exception. Granted, the Sensitive (I) halo looks very similar to the Sensitive (II) halo, but the information it gives is completely different.

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17. Expression

Now it's your turn to listen carefully, Cortana has something to say! We noticed that the three icons for expression, reminder and music recommendation are all displayed with light inside and dark outside, but the other emotions are completely opposite - there must be something behind this.

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18. Thinking

Uh…hmm…why do Cortana’s thought icons look so similar to Contented, Thoughtful, Optimistic, and Sensitive (I) and Sensitive (II)? Just like when communicating with real people, emotions are often hard to grasp.

Original English text: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2881902/cortanas-ui-now-expresses-18-different-emotions-siri-remains-detached-and-aloof.html