VoiceBox to GPS: Where's the Nearest Starbucks?
By Robyn Peterson, PCMAG.COM
Starbucks, why not simply ask your GPS? That's what VoiceBox envisions for the future of navigation.
VoiceBox Technologies – a developer of software that enables users to search and access digital content and control devices via speech – demoed an operational prototype of a voice-enabled GPS application, which appears to understand conversational English. The device used for the demo was a Samsung UltraMobilePC, although the software can run on a variety of hardware platforms, according to the company.
During a private demo, Tom Freeman, senior vice president of marketing at VoiceBox, asked the UltraMobilePC, "Where's the nearest Starbucks?" The device responded by displaying the closest Starbucks location near the McCarran International Airport here in Las Vegas, which was set as a current location. Freeman then said, "call them."
The application looked up the phone number of that Starbucks, and after confirming the number with Freeman verbally, initiated a call via a cell phone that was connected via Bluetooth to the UltraMobilePC.
The real problem with current voice-enabled navigation devices, according to Freeman, is that users are forced to memorize the small number of phrases and speak each very slowly in a monotone. In other words, says Freeman, "functional, literate adults end up talking like three-year olds."
With the VoiceBox prototype, setting a course from the airport to our selected destination, the Wynn hotel also in Las Vegas, took a total of three spoken phrases from Freeman . All the while, the application was responding back verbally as well. This is the typical scenario, says Freeman, who went on to say that the typical touch-screen GPS requires four to six minutes to program a route whereas the VoiceBox voice-enabled application reduces the time required to somewhere around 18 seconds.
The first PNDs and UltraMobilePCs with VoiceBox's software installed will hit the market this fall, according to the company. Cell phones are also a key target for VoiceBox, as connectivity is already easily established. Internet connectivity is required for the systems to reach their true potential, Freeman explained.
"I believe the next step with this technology is to start unifying the embedded world and the server world so that you have a hybrid of capabilities on both the portable devices connected to a server," Freeman said. "Data is fresh. You can then begin to make offerings that are even more relevant." VoiceBox has already established a "technology development partnership" with the Toyota Motor Corporation, and this partnership paves the way for higher-end Toyota models, including Lexus, to have VoiceBox voice-enabled navigation systems in 2008, according to Freeman. The ballpark cost to Toyota for implementing the system is somewhere between $1 and $10, excluding infrastructure costs, which include installing a microphone, a minimum of 18 Mbytes of on-board memory, and a 400-MHz CPU. Freeman said that the systems would start to appear in a wider array of cars in 2009.
On Tuesday, VoiceBox Technologies announced a partnership with Nuance Communications to develop advanced voice applications for personal navigation devices (PNDs).
Starbucks, why not simply ask your GPS? That's what VoiceBox envisions for the future of navigation.
VoiceBox Technologies – a developer of software that enables users to search and access digital content and control devices via speech – demoed an operational prototype of a voice-enabled GPS application, which appears to understand conversational English. The device used for the demo was a Samsung UltraMobilePC, although the software can run on a variety of hardware platforms, according to the company.
During a private demo, Tom Freeman, senior vice president of marketing at VoiceBox, asked the UltraMobilePC, "Where's the nearest Starbucks?" The device responded by displaying the closest Starbucks location near the McCarran International Airport here in Las Vegas, which was set as a current location. Freeman then said, "call them."
The application looked up the phone number of that Starbucks, and after confirming the number with Freeman verbally, initiated a call via a cell phone that was connected via Bluetooth to the UltraMobilePC.
The real problem with current voice-enabled navigation devices, according to Freeman, is that users are forced to memorize the small number of phrases and speak each very slowly in a monotone. In other words, says Freeman, "functional, literate adults end up talking like three-year olds."
With the VoiceBox prototype, setting a course from the airport to our selected destination, the Wynn hotel also in Las Vegas, took a total of three spoken phrases from Freeman . All the while, the application was responding back verbally as well. This is the typical scenario, says Freeman, who went on to say that the typical touch-screen GPS requires four to six minutes to program a route whereas the VoiceBox voice-enabled application reduces the time required to somewhere around 18 seconds.
The first PNDs and UltraMobilePCs with VoiceBox's software installed will hit the market this fall, according to the company. Cell phones are also a key target for VoiceBox, as connectivity is already easily established. Internet connectivity is required for the systems to reach their true potential, Freeman explained.
"I believe the next step with this technology is to start unifying the embedded world and the server world so that you have a hybrid of capabilities on both the portable devices connected to a server," Freeman said. "Data is fresh. You can then begin to make offerings that are even more relevant." VoiceBox has already established a "technology development partnership" with the Toyota Motor Corporation, and this partnership paves the way for higher-end Toyota models, including Lexus, to have VoiceBox voice-enabled navigation systems in 2008, according to Freeman. The ballpark cost to Toyota for implementing the system is somewhere between $1 and $10, excluding infrastructure costs, which include installing a microphone, a minimum of 18 Mbytes of on-board memory, and a 400-MHz CPU. Freeman said that the systems would start to appear in a wider array of cars in 2009.
On Tuesday, VoiceBox Technologies announced a partnership with Nuance Communications to develop advanced voice applications for personal navigation devices (PNDs).
posted by gab admin at 8:13 AM 
2 Comments:
Thank you for the post! Wanted to clarify that there are a few
corrections and updates to this particular article which can be found at
http://www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=198160,00.asp.
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Anonymous, at 2:32 PM
- Thank you for the post! Wanted to clarify that there are a few corrections and updates to this particular article which can be found at http://www.pcmag.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=198160,00.asp.
By
Anonymous, at 3:20 PM
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