So it’s very nice to see that voice and multimodal control as well as speech recognition are widely resent and have received a push by many producers. In-car infotainment, self-driving vehicles, smart homes or home entertainment – the 2015 CES provides a big stage for intelligent user interfaces and control solutions.
Daimler and Audi are showing their respective versions of independent, autonomous smart cars, even a functioning and tested prototype. Audi’s robot car, an A7 named Jack, did its travelling all by itself. In two days it managed to drive the 570 miles from Silicon Valley in California to Las Vegas (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/CES-Selbstfahrender-Audi-auf-dem-Weg-nach-Vegas-2508434.html). Daimler has unveiled its research prototype Mercedes F 015 “Luxury in Motion”. The fuel cell powered car is luxurious, indeed. It is more than 14 feet long and has a wheel base of almost 12 feet! Of course it is completely linked up and can be controlled multimodally via touchpad, gestures or eye tracking. The prototype reveals its current operational status (autonomous or passenger operated) using colored LED surfaces to its environment. Especially interesting and innovative: Pedestrians are being informed if the car has recognized them. (http://www.zdnet.de/88215340/ces-daimler-zeigt-selbstfahrenden-mercedes/)
Volkswagen directs its focus on the perfect human-technology interface in the car. In the Golf R Touch concept car, there are no rotary knobs or switches at all; novel touch control concepts using several displays and high-resolution gesture control complement the voice control. (http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/CES-VW-zeigt-Gestensteuerung-im-Auto-2511297.html)
Hyundai shows a new generation of its Blue Link voice control. By means of an Android Smart Watch and the respective app, the user can open or lock their car, start the engine or look for their car in case they’ve forgotten its location, all by using their voice. This technology is said to be available already in the 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT and Veloster models – at least in the US. (http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/01/ces-2015-hands-hyundai-blue-link-remote-voice-control.html)
Samsung excite us with their vision of a super-connected world that will be facilitated by the Internet of Things. Samsung predicts that not only the electronics industry but all other industries and the society itself, too, will be subject to a profound change. Samsung products therefore will be able to communicate among themselves as well as with other manufacturers’ devices by using open interfaces (BMW had a brief guest appearance on the Samsung stage during the speech of Samsung’s CE department boss Boo-Keun Yoon). In this way, the devices will enable seamless, proactive assistance for the user. We like the idea! (http://www.faz.net/aktuell/technik-motor/ces/samsung-auf-der-ces-2015-in-las-vegas-im-mittelpunkt-13356702.html)
Schlage, a department of security technology producer Allegion, presents the Bluetooth-enabled Smart Lock Schlage Sense with touchpad and Siri voice control. The Sense allows the user to open the lock with their voice, thanks to the integration into Apples Home Kit. (http://www.macrumors.com/2015/01/06/ces-schlage-sense-lock/)
The flood of CES related product news and presentations slightly blanketed the acquisition of speech technology startup Wit.ai by Facebook. Wit.ai is supposed to enable Facebook’s messenger app with its own voice control. The very young startup from Palo Alto, California, just recently received a $ 3 million dollar funding from the venture capital Andreessen Horowitz. (http://www.golem.de/news/wit-ai-facebook-kauft-spracherkennungs-startup-1501-111471.html)
Not only the acquisition of Wit.ai by mega player Facebook shows that speech technologies will play a central role in 2015 technology trends. For SemVox, an exciting and eventful year lies ahead!