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Sensory Announces 'Truly Hands-Free,' the First Always-On, Always-Listening Voice Control for Bluetooth Devices
SUNNYVALE, CA, Jun 08, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Sensory Inc., the leader in speech technologies for consumer
products, today announced Truly Hands-Free, a significant enhancement
to the BlueGenie Voice Interface, the leading voice control and
speech output solution on Bluetooth headsets. For the first time,
Bluetooth devices -- including headsets, car kits and stereo
headphones -- will benefit from a hands-free trigger or phrase
spotting technology. With Truly Hands-Free, the BlueGenie Voice
Interface is always listening and virtually impervious to background
noise so the user can initiate functions without using even one
button trigger.
"Hands-Free devices today still require a number of tactile
interactions that can distract the driver from the task at hand,"
commented Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory. "What's been needed all along
is a speech controlled technology that doesn't require a button press
to get started. The technical challenge -- that Sensory is the first
and only company to overcome -- is an always-on, always-listening
technology that activates reliably in noise but doesn't accidentally
come on from talk radio or conversations."
Truly Hands-Free Experience
Recent state-by-state legislation has mandated that drivers must use
hands-free devices when using a cell phone and operating a vehicle.
However, according to Chris Schreiner, Senior User Experience Analyst
at Strategy Analytics, and his recent report, "Today's hands-free car
kits lack a truly hands-free experience. Consumers want an easy and
intuitive means of placing and accepting calls while driving that
does not require them to take their eyes off the road or their hands
off the wheel, even for a moment. Trigger or phrase spotting
technology is one of the hardest things to do in speech recognition
but allows for the truly hands-free experience that's been missing.
It is always listening for voice commands so that the consumer does
not have to push even one button and can control everything with
their voice, even in a noisy car environment."
Sensory's new Truly Hands-Free technology accomplishes this goal
without even a single button press. A simple voice command such as
"Hello BlueGenie" now 'wakes up' the car kit to listen for an
operational speech command. This new technology from Sensory is
highly robust, and performs well in over 70dB noise. Patent-pending
low resource technology enables minimal power consumption to avoid
excessive battery drain.
New BlueGenie Platforms
Sensory is introducing two new BlueGenie Voice Interface platforms:
BlueGenie Car Kit and BlueGenie Stereo. OEM developers now have
multiple options for integrating the BlueGenie(TM) Voice Interface
with Truly Hands-Free into Bluetooth enabled mono headsets, stereo
headsets and car kits for a more user-friendly, feature-rich, and
safer driving experience.
BlueGenie Car Kit - The BlueGenie mono headset and car kit reference
provide similar functionality of voice enabled operational control
for pairing, voice dialing, information access, and settings
functions. A pleasant sounding voice is included to announce calls,
answer all queries and give various prompts. The car kit includes the
Truly Hands-Free option. Many headsets would want a button press to
maintain battery life, but Sensory has a patent pending approach to
enable Truly Hands-Free performance in even the most constrained
battery life situations such as mono headsets.
BlueGenie Stereo - The BlueGenie Stereo reference uses the standard
phone functions (voice dialing, info access, settings, etc.) but also
includes a superset of commands for setting the up/down music control
buttons by voice for functions like volume, tone, balance,
fast-forward, playlists, and selections that would otherwise require
multiple hardwired buttons.
BlueGenie Voice Interface Capabilities
Sensory's BlueGenie Voice Interface for Mono Headsets has already
received outstanding reviews and awards from industry experts and
consumers alike. Users find that BlueGenie's unique features, like
explanatory and pleasant sounding voice prompts, audible caller ID,
and robust voice command sets are a revolutionary improvement over
the traditional confusing beeps and awkward button pushes that once
plagued Bluetooth headset users. Now the same BlueGenie technology
running on CSR's BlueCore(TM) silicon is available for Bluetooth car
kits and stereo headsets.
The BlueGenie Voice Interface provides several key functions:
-- Operational control and information access - Pairing, checking
connection status and strength, battery checks, answering calls, and
configuration/settings are all done through voice control. "What Can I
Say?" is all the user needs to remember.
-- Dialing functions - Speed dialing, calling back on dropped calls, and
information access (weather, driving directions, traffic conditions,
stocks, etc.) can all be accomplished by voice. Free voice services for
accessing information on any business in the US is also included.
-- Speech Synthesis for user friendly voice prompts - Incoming caller
names or numbers can be announced and a pleasant sounding natural voice can
respond to all queries. This replaces the beeps and flashing lights
intended to communicate information on many older headsets.
About Sensory, Inc.
Sensory, Inc. is the leader in speech technologies for consumer
products. Sensory is a VC-backed, privately held company offering a
complete line of IC and software-only solutions for speech
recognition, speech synthesis, speaker verification, music synthesis
and more. The company's products are widely deployed in consumer
electronics applications including Bluetooth devices, telephones,
home automation, toys, remote controls, automotive, security, and
learning aids. Sensory's customers represent the leaders in consumer
electronics, including such companies as BlueAnt Wireless, Hasbro,
JVC, Kenwood, Mattel, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Uniden and Sony. Sensory,
Inc. is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, with additional offices in
Portland, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Vienna. Visit www.sensoryinc.com for
more information.
Media Contact:
Beth Williams
INK PR for Sensory
512.382.8984
Email Contact
SOURCE: Sensory, Inc.
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=7A3ECC6ECAB04860
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