SVOX
Encyclopedia
- For the Canadian media company, see S-VOXS-VOXS-VOX Foundation is a Canadian non-profit media organization dedicated to producing content on faith and spirituality.The organization is the successor to the non-profit entity that operated VisionTV, and later other related Canadian specialty channels, from 1988 to 2010...
.
SVOX AG is an embedded speech technology
Speech processing
Speech processing is the study of speech signals and the processing methods of these signals.The signals are usually processed in a digital representation, so speech processing can be regarded as a special case of digital signal processing, applied to speech signal.It is also closely tied to...
company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
founded in 2000 and headquartered in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Company’s products include Automated Speech Recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
(ASR), Text-to-Speech
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
(TTS) and Speech Dialog systems, with customers mostly being manufacturers and system integrators in automotive and mobile device industries.
In June of 2011, Nuance Communications
Nuance Communications
Nuance Communications is a multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, that provides speech and imaging applications...
acquired SVOX.
History
SVOX was started by researchers at Federal Institute of Technology ZurichETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
(ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
) and first focused exclusively on Speech Output
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
(TTS) solutions for automotive industry
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
. Later, as the market for Personal Navigation Devices
Personal navigation assistant
A Personal Navigation Assistant also known as Personal Navigation Device or Portable Navigation Device is a portable electronic product which combines a positioning capability and navigation functions....
and smartphones developed, the company started to supply those markets as well. In parallel, SVOX has branched into Speech Recognition
Speech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
and Speech Dialog. As part of that process the company acquired Professional Speech Processing Group of Siemens AG
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
in early 2009.
Products
SVOX products include Automated Speech RecognitionSpeech recognition
Speech recognition converts spoken words to text. The term "voice recognition" is sometimes used to refer to recognition systems that must be trained to a particular speaker—as is the case for most desktop recognition software...
(ASR), Text-to-Speech
Speech synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware...
(TTS) and Speech Dialog systems. Typical uses include:
- destination entry and voice directions in turn-by-turn navigationTurn-by-turn navigationTurn-by-turn navigation is a feature of some GPS navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken and visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best route to the destination, and is often updated according...
systems; - voice dialing and caller ID announcement in mobile phones and in-car telematics systems;
- Point of Interest (POI) output and traffic information in navigation systems (PND and in-car).
Company’s speech products are especially popular with German car makers such as Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
, Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
, BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
, Daimler and VW and are often found in premium cars.
Current status
Most recently SVOX made headlines with news that GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
has chosen to include company’s TTS solution into the next release of Android platform. First mobile phones based on this release are expected to reach the market in autumn 2009.
Competitors
- Acapela Group http://www.acapela-group.com
- IBMIBMInternational Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/pervasive/embedded_viavoice/ - LoquendoLoquendoLoquendo is a multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Torino, Italy, that provides speech recognition, speech synthesis, speaker verification and identification applications...
http://www.loquendo.com/en