Nuance’s One-Shot Destination Entry Now Deployed by Mercedes-Benz and Becker
BURLINGTON, Mass. & AACHEN, Germany--Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced that its One-Shot Destination Entry speech recognition technology is now being deployed, an industry-first, in the current Mercedes-Benz S-Class in-car navigation systems and in Becker’s new Traffic Assistant Z204 and Z205 portable navigation devices.
Nuance’s One-Shot Destination Entry allows the user to simply speak an entire address in one, simple command versus a series of multi-step dialog and response commands for city and street. Drivers can now simply say “London, Piccadilly Circus 5,” and the route will then be automatically calculated.
Mercedes-Benz has been a pioneer in bringing to market innovative, speech-enabled solutions that enhance the driving experience, having launched the first deployment of full voice destination entry in the Mercedes C-Class in April 2007. The launch of Mercedes-Benz’s new generation of “LINGUATRONIC” technology is being debuted in the S-Class and is initially available in Europe.
Becker, an affiliate of Harman Becker Automotive Systems, launched its new line of personal navigation devices, Becker Traffic Assist Z 204 and Z 205, featuring Nuance’s One-Shot Speech Dialogue System. The devices, which feature 3-D map displays and Bluetooth compatibility, are currently available across Europe.
“One-Shot Speech is a key part of our mission to bring a high-end, innovative user interface into the broader navigation consumer market that enables our customers to get to where they are going faster, and without the inherent dangers of manual entry while on the road,” said Olaf Kappler, PR Manager Brand, Becker.
“We’re thrilled to see innovators like Mercedes-Benz and Becker feature Nuance One-Shot Destination Entry as a key feature of their new user interface, providing a more comfortable interaction with navigation systems versus a command and confirmation dialog,” said Arnd Weil, general manager, Nuance Automotive. “The technological achievement is the result of our tremendous advances in natural language understanding, helping reduce the amount of visual confirmation necessary and limiting the number of distractions drivers face behind the wheel.”
Recent surveys commissioned by Nuance have shown that controlling in-car systems by voice is one of the most important features to reduce driver distraction and increase overall ease of use of the navigation systems.
- Nuance’s Driver Distraction Study revealed that short dialogs with few confirmation steps reduced overall driver distraction and reaction time by 47 percent as compared to manual operation.
- Nuance’s Voice Interface Usability Study found that while more than 70 percent of those surveyed were very satisfied with voice-enabled in-car systems, a more natural and shorter dialogue with less confirmation steps ranked high on the list of key features they wanted to see improved.
Today more than 100 models from major car manufacturers and nearly all leading portable navigation device manufacturers feature Nuance speech technology to enable voice destination entry or speech synthesis for voice guidance. To learn more, please visit http://www.nuance.com/automotive/
About Nuance Mobile
Nuance Mobile builds innovative, intelligent and intuitive touch and speech interfaces to simplify and enhance the way people interact with mobile devices, applications, and services. Nuance Mobile solutions make mobile devices and in-car systems easier to use, automate customer self-service, and optimize the access and discovery of even the most advanced mobile applications and content — regardless of technical know-how, location, environment, or physical and literacy capabilities.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit: www.nuance.com.
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