In a bid to enhance the functionality of personal navigation devices, Nuance (News - Alert) Communications, provider of speech applications and solutions and VoiceBox, developer of conversational voice search software, have joined forces to add advanced voice applications to the devices.

 

The new voice applications, announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will combine Nuance's natural language and speech technology solutions together with VoiceBox's conversational voice search capabilities, including the ability to interpret user intent from free-form speech.

 

The advanced features make the voice-user experience more natural and intuitive and will allow one to use their voice to interact with navigation systems on mobile and automotive devices in a more natural and conversational manner.

 

"Our conversational voice-search capabilities will help demystify the powers of navigation. Nuance has the background and products that will help create the best user experience yet; together we can change the way consumers use navigation forever." Mike Kennewick, co-founder, chairman and CEO VoiceBox commented in a statement.

 

"Our combined efforts have proven effective in noisy situations and can solve real consumer problems. Having free-form conversational access to things like address entry, points of interests and favorite places, together we can make navigation systems truly personal for users," also commented Steve Chambers, president of the Speech Solutions Division at Nuance.

 

Just last week, Nuance announced the closing of their acquisition of MobileVoice Control. The acquisition will help Nuance to more quickly deploy speech-enabled solutions for the wireless industry and specifically the mobile search and communications market. With speech-enabled services added to communication and mobile devices, it is possible to use ones voice to perform tasks, navigate systems and create content more easily.