OnStar and Nuance Partner to Develop uNav and Enhance User Experience

By Nathesh, TMCnet Contributor

OnStar, a subsidiary of General Motors (News - Alert) and provider of in-vehicle safety, security and communication services, announced a partnership with speech and imaging solutions provider Nuance in order to enhance the user experience.

Nuance’s (News - Alert) voice recognition software is now deployed in 2011 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models.

OnStar is supposedly a telematic service that provides communication, tracking and emergency response services to car owners. Developed by General Motors for the purpose of providing fast and effective response in the event of vehicular accidents, the OnStar service has now evolved into a system that is used to offer drivers assistance with directions, car breakdown help as well as communications and leisure services.

The more flexible voice recognition system from Nuance makes it easier for subscribers to navigate services and features through its ability to understand voice commands in a natural manner. Now if drivers needed to make a call from their car they can just say commands like “I need to make a call” instead of reaching for some prompts or using formal commands like “dial” or “call.”

"Understanding and responding to our subscribers' needs through natural voice recognition is one of the ways we keep drivers safely connected to the people and information that matters most to them," said Scott Kubicki, executive director, OnStar Sales, Services and Marketing.

The OnStar service’s voice recognition system is also upgraded with features so that it is familiar with various regional dialects – for instance a subscriber in southern Louisiana will be just as easily understood as a subscriber in New York or Minnesota. OnStar claimed that its engineers ran several validation tests on English, French, Spanish and Mandarin languages and dialects in a range of vehicle models over different environments to achieve the flexible speech recognition.

Nuance claimed that OnStar's proven experience in safety and connectivity when combined with Nuance's automotive voice innovation produces a platform that allows for a smarter, simpler driving experience.

OnStar and Nuance are also collaborating to develop uNav, a new self-service feature that allows subscribers to quickly receive directions to a destination using an automated voice system after pressing the blue OnStar button.

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(source: http://m2m.tmcnet.com/topics/m2mevolution/articles/138669-onstar-nuance-partner-develop-unav-enhance-user-experience.htm)