May 31, 2005
Xbox360/Fonix Deal Signed
Microsoft and Fonix Speech have today announced a deal that will see the company’s voice recognition technology used in Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. Fonix Speech’s technologies are already being utilised in the various Tom Clancy franchises on Xbox including Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
Posted by Michelle at 10:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2005
BGU researchers develop voice-activated web search
A research team at Ben Gurion University of the Negev is developing a voice-activated Internet search interface.
Maestro integrates data recovery with speech recognition technology to execute Internet searches using a microphone and loudspeaker.
The project is intended to be part of a larger experiment about traffic accidents, headed by Dr. Meirav Taieb-Maimon.
Posted by Michelle at 06:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Improved technology opens door
A blind person can work a computer by using voice recognition; a quadriplegic can do the same with eye movement.
Posted by Michelle at 11:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2005
Despite L&H's Fall, Technology Was Real
Although the company may have looked like a fake to the public by the time it was liquidated, Lernout & Hauspie did have genuine technology, many speech-recognition specialists say.
"It certainly wasn't like these companies that had hundreds of millions of dollars of venture capital poured in and then had nothing to show for it but some good office furniture," said John Oberteuffer, who consulted for Lernout & Hauspie and is vice president for technology at Fonix, a Utah-based speech technology company.
Posted by Michelle at 08:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 28, 2005
Group to build vet a special house
As Kenneth Adams recuperates from an Army accident in Afghanistan that blinded him, one organization has promised to build him a house constructed to meet his special needs.
The house will be voice-activated, meaning Adams can adjust the lights, unlock the door or turn on the shower by speaking.
Posted by Michelle at 07:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 26, 2005
Voice Recognition: Ready for Prime Time
For years, Dragon NaturallySpeaking (now owned by Scansoft) has been the best voice dictation product. Now version 8 of the application fulfills its predecessors' promise by delivering lots of little improvements that add up to much greater usability. Not only does the software present a more-useful-than-ever list of alternatives when you tell it that it has made a mistake, but now it allows you to correct your own verbal mistakes by selecting the error and then saying what you actually meant.
Posted by Michelle at 07:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 25, 2005
Calling all cars
The Audi-Treo matchup may still be missing certain crucial features, like the ability to find entries stored in the phone's memory by using the car's voice-recognition system. But this initial cooperation, followed by a broadening of the Bluetooth standard and continued development in automotive technology, promise a future where most cars and most phones will work together in wireless harmony.
Posted by Michelle at 05:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Mednet System Signs Contract To Use AM Technologies' WHY TYPE Medical System to Voice Enable Their Web Based Electronic Medical Record
The speech recognition system used by Christopher Reeve combines with Mednet's EMR to increase productivity and eliminate transcription costs in medical practices.
Mednet System, a leading provider of electronic medical record (EMR) software, announced today that it has selected AM Technologies' WHY TYPE(R) Medical System (WTMS) as the speech recognition system to enable 4MD software for patient notes.
Posted by Michelle at 05:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2005
For police, word from the wise is sufficient
Starting tomorrow, Brookline [Massachusetts] police will be among the first in the Northeast to use sophisticated voice recognition and response software that will allow officers in cruisers to get information quickly while keeping their eyes on the road.
Posted by Michelle at 07:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 21, 2005
Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8
Speech recognition has never been this good. Dragon Naturally Speaking 8 Professional, the latest incarnation of the popular speech-recognition engine from ScanSoft, is better at turning speech into text than any other commercial product on the market we've seen. And though it still makes its fair share of mistakes, correcting those mistakes is remarkably easy. If you've been disappointed with speech-recognition tools in the past, Dragon 8 could turn you into a believer.
Posted by Michelle at 05:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Windows file permissions: more is less
I have a funny story. A while back I was showing my son the cool speech recognition features in Microsoft Word. I got out my laptop, went through the configuration and training process by dictating into the microphone.
My son, twelve, could barely hold back the laughter as he listened to me read to my computer various excerpts from books such as the Wizard of Oz and Aesop's fables. He was just waiting for the chance to make fun of me. What I didn't realize was that the cheap microphone in my laptop is hardly sufficient for speech recognition purposes and the results were disastrous.
Posted by Michelle at 05:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2005
Orange postpones Wildfire closure
Orange has been forced to delay the scrapping of its Wildfire voice recognition system by four weeks after being rocked by criticism from unhappy punters.
The mobilephoneco had blamed "declining numbers" for its decision to ditch Wildfire at the end of May. But after much public criticism of its decision - especially from blind and visually impaired users who rely on Wildfire to make their calls - Orange agreed to postpone the closure of the voice activated digital personal assistant for a month.
Posted by Michelle at 12:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Nintendo DS Voice Recognition Service
There has been a lot of speculation over what the small hole is next to the earphone port since the DS was originally unveiled last year. Various patents and trademarks led people to believe there would be some sort of headset coming to the new portable and a voice Wi-Fi chat programme.
It appears that everyone's educated guesses were correct as Nintendo currently has something called DSpeak on the show floor at E3. Using a headset, DSpeak works over a Wi-Fi Internet connection to give gamers alerts when other gamers come online - just like an instant message device.
Posted by Michelle at 12:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
'Million Dollar Baby' was Oscar-winning fiction; here’s the truth
Communication is also vital, aided now by tremendously improved, voice-activated software. It allows writing books, surfing the Web, using the phone, and — O, joy! — even paying bills. Voice-activated e-mail allows quadriplegics the same opportunity to read and write letters and receive spam as the rest of us.
Posted by Michelle at 02:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2005
SIVOX Ships Internet-Based Agent Training
Sivox Technologies Inc., developers of the SIVOX RealCall™ learn-by-doing platform for creating interactive contact simulations for initial and continuous training, announced today the release of its RealCall Quick Start Internet Pilot product.... Using sophisticated speech recognition, the system actually listens to trainee speech and through comparisons to ideal responses, reacts to and steers the trainee along the best path during dynamic training calls. Call Centers can construct their own scenarios, based on stressful situations and real-life events to provide the next best thing to taking a live emergency call. SIVOX RealCall provides instant feedback during simulated calls, allowing agents to retry segments immediately. SIVOX also replicates entire Call Center data systems using interactive screens from the contact center data systems, including input fields. Trainees learn systems during simulated calls, where system knowledge is actually put to use.
Posted by Michelle at 12:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Valence Capital Management Leads Latest Round
AgileTV, the leading provider of voice navigation services for the cable television industry, announced its closing of $22 million in funding led by Valence Capital Management, LP... The funding will fuel the ongoing delivery and product development of AgileTV's voice navigation service for the cable television industry. The company's core product, Promptu, uses a voice activated remote control and
server-centric voice recognition technology that allows cable television viewers to search for favorite programs by genre or find a specific show simply by saying the program name, network name, favorite actor or sports team regardless of whether it's on broadcast, On Demand or DVR.
Posted by Michelle at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2005
Fifty Percent of Call Centers Not Currently Speech-Enabled Plan on Implementing Speech within the Next Year
As the adoption of speech-enabled self-service and open-based standards and technologies such as VoiceXML, SALT, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) continue to rise, it is imperative to gauge their impact on the industry. Equally as important from an industry perspective, is gaining an understanding of touch-tone based call centers and if the move to speech is part of their organizational plans, and if not, identifying their perceptions and barriers of speech in meeting their customer service goals.
Posted by Michelle at 12:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 16, 2005
TuVox Speech Technology Protection Plan Preserves Enterprises' Speech Application Investments; New Guarantee from TuVox Offered On Heels of ScanSoft/Nuance Merger
TuVox, the pioneer in enterprise software for speech applications, today announced the TuVox Speech Technology Protection Plan(TM). Under the terms of this plan, TuVox will provide guaranteed investment protection for any company that has selected or will select ScanSoft, Nuance or any other platform technologies, for as long as they are available in the market.
Posted by Michelle at 12:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
Gains in Translation: Software Aims to Cut Through the Babble Better
In the 23rd century, people will use a gizmo that looks suspiciously like a flashlight to communicate with alien species.
That's in the world of "Star Trek." In the here and now, a small Marina del Rey company is working on technology that could lead to a "universal translator" for the real world.
Language Weaver Inc. was founded in 2002 by two USC computer scientists who developed methods to teach computers to translate by force-feeding them huge volumes of text. Early investors included the CIA.
Though portable translation devices are only a long-range goal, the company's technology is already being used, along with that of a voice-recognition software firm, to do on-the-fly translations of television programs.
Posted by Michelle at 06:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 13, 2005
Speech recognition survivors merge: ScanSoft becomes Nuance
Speech recognition consolidator ScanSoft announced on Monday that it had agreed to buy its main rival Nuance in a $221m cash-and-stock deal, and then change its name to Nuance.
Posted by Michelle at 08:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
IBM, Cisco To Develop Speech Recognition Apps
Both technology titans have voice recognition middleware products on the market. The new agreement will integrate Cisco's technology into IBM's middleware.
"Cisco has a strong voice portal product, and also has VoIP technology that, combined with WebSphere middleware, will create a good match for contact centers," said Eugene Cox, director of IBM's contact-center solutions.
Posted by Michelle at 08:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ultradata Selects Sensory Speech Recognition Chip for Road Genie® Hand-Held Navigator
Sensory, Inc., the world leader in embedded speech technologies today announced shipments of the RSC-4128 speech recognition IC for use in the Ultradata Road Genie® Audio Navigation System.
Posted by Michelle at 08:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University Has Conducted a Speech Recognition Best Practice Study Sponsored by Edify
Edify Corporation, a leading global supplier of voice and speech solutions, today announced it has joined forces with Purdue University's Center for Customer-Driven Quality to determine best practices for deploying speech recognition systems.
Posted by Michelle at 08:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 12, 2005
Speech Recognition Software Slowly Making Progress
Recent technical advances have made speech recognition more customer-friendly, yet the technology is making slow, steady inroads into the corporate marketplace, and so far, having limited effects on sales. Speech recognition systems, which have been available for more than a decade, are often used to replace touch-tone dialing options, systems where users rely on telephone key pads to enter information.
Posted by Michelle at 08:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 11, 2005
Professorial trend spotter predicts end of written word
William Crossman, a futurist and an English instructor at Vista Community College in Berkeley, believes that reading and writing are doomed.Mr. Crossman does raise some interesting points, but I doubt the demise of text will come anytime soon, for two reasons:
- Text is much more compact and efficient way to impart information in a short amount of time, and
- Text cannot be overheard.
Posted by Michelle at 11:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fortemedia Delivers "Industry's Best" Full Duplex Performance With FM1093 Voice Processing Platform
Fortemedia, Inc. today announces FM1093, a state-of-the-art DSP platform for the latest in voice-processing technologies. FM1093, with small array microphone beam-forming capabilities, supports Fortemedia's 16kHz echo cancellation and noise suppression software. Along with features such as voice recognition, FM1093 is ideal for leading edge applications in VoIP and video speakerphones, Bluetooth enabled speakerphones, and automotive hands-free car kits.
Posted by Michelle at 11:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 10, 2005
Speech app cuts costs at Premier Travel Inn
Premier Travel Inn has gone live with a fully automated reservations system based on speech-recognition software. The firm expects the system to significantly reduce its call centre costs.
Called Tina (Travel Inn Now Automated), the system enables customers to book a room in any of the company's 460 UK hotels.
Posted by Michelle at 05:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
From speech recognition to full-blown multithreaded conversation
Anticipating what your interlocutor will say helps a dialogue run smoothly. Faster recognition of a conversation’s context – from the phrases, speech and grammar – is something language technologists have been striving to achieve since the early days of man-machine speech recognition. Now, European and American researchers have built a dialogue management system which promises to make conversing with our machine friends at work, in cars and at home that much more realistic.
Posted by Michelle at 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Exciting New Feature for SmartNAV
NaturalPoint Inc. is proud to announce built-in support for voice controlled commands in SmartNAV. This revolutionary new feature delivers the best of both speech recognition and head tracking technology in one integrated package. You can now send mouse clicks and activate other SmartNAV features using only your voice.
This feature is currently undergoing beta testing, and we wanted to offer the community a chance to test this cutting edge technology. Please click on this link for detailed instructions of how to install support for this new feature.
Posted by Michelle at 01:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Investors give voice to technology
Improvements in speech recognition software and agreement on common standards are helping to improve interactive voice recognition (IVR) technology so that having a conversation with a computerized voice is nearly as natural as one with a real person.
Posted by Michelle at 12:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8.0 and IBM ViaVoice 10
Talk into a microphone and the computer types what you say. That's an easy way to describe voice recognition software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM ViaVoice. Morphing through various forms since 1994, DNS is arguably the best voice recognition software available today. IBM's "40 years of commitment to speech research and development" have in part lead to the ViaVoice software. This article compares these two as well as providing general comments on voice recognition technology.
Posted by Michelle at 12:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Your Phone Is Calling Your Car
The most rudimentary [Bluetooth] systems simply turn the car's sound system into a hands-free speakerphone. More advanced systems - like those in DaimlerChrysler cars featuring the UConnect Bluetooth option as well as Honda's latest Acura TL and RL models - use voice recognition. Call out a string of numbers, and they are sent to your phone, where the call is placed. These in-car systems allow you to create "voice tags" - short recordings of names - that can be matched to numbers, so you can say a name instead of remembering a number.
Posted by Michelle at 12:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Banks to use voice recognition to combat identity theft
With the growing problem of identity theft, banks want something more security for customers' accounts than simply asking people for their Social Security number and date of birth. Thus, banks are hoping that voice recognition software will help them determine if the person on the other end of the line is actually their customer.
Posted by Michelle at 12:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NewVoiceMedia Names Telisma as Strategic Partner for Voice Recognition
Intelligent network services vendor NewVoiceMedia announced today that it has selected Telisma as its strategic partner for voice recognition.
Posted by Michelle at 12:43 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Edify Receives Frost & Sullivan Excellence Award for Voice Recognition Technologies
Edify Corporation, a leading global supplier of voice and speech solutions and a subsidiary of S1 Corporation, today announced it has received the 2005 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Technology Award for demonstrating the highest level of development for voice and speech product applications.
Posted by Michelle at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Biometrics: Getting Back to Business
The use of biometrics—the mathematical analysis of characteristics such as fingerprints, veins in irises and retinas, and voice patterns—as a way to authenticate users' identities has been a topic of discussion for years. Early commercial success stories have largely come from applying biometrics to projects with provable returns on investment: time and attendance, password reduction and reset, and physical access control. Though biometric work remains primarily in the pilot stages, the events of 9/11 pushed emerging commercial products to center stage—a spot some say they weren't ready to claim. Vendor focus shifted from the private sector toward the huge contracts many expected would be awarded in the public sector, say observers.
Posted by Michelle at 12:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Mid-Atlantic Financial Services, Inc. Signs Licensing Agreement to Use Patented Voice & Speech Recognition Mortgage Loan Application from Voice2Form, LLC.
Voice2Form, LLC., which uses a patented voice recognition system to help people fill out forms for a variety of commercial and governmental agencies, today announced that it has signed a license agreement with Mid-Atlantic Financial Services, Inc., a leading financial services firm in Atlanta. Voice2Form's technology was seamlessly integrated with Mid-Atlantic's existing telephony and back-end database systems.
Posted by Michelle at 12:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack