TravellingWave, Zi Team Up to Develop Advanced Text Messaging Using Speech Recognition

TravellingWave, a provider of speech-to-text software for mobile devices, and Zi Corporation, a provider of solutions for mobile search, text input and advertising, jointly announced signing a non-exclusive integration license that will enable mobile users with advanced text messaging using speech inputs.

 

This integration license will enable both companies to combine their technologies. TravellingWave's ‘VoicePredict’ speech-to-text software will be integrated with Zi Corporation's ‘eZiText’ and ‘eZiType’ text-prediction products, in order to facilitate mobile phone users with more advanced and accurate ‘speak and type’ text messages. This technology will open up new paths with respect to mobile messaging, search, discovery, and mobile advertisement.

 

Text prediction is a form of interactive machine translation. TravellingWave leverages speech recognition technology to enhance predictive text input. TravellingWave’s Predictive speech-to-text technology predicts words based on acoustics (speech) produced by a user in addition to the letters inputted (by the user), thereby providing quicker and simpler text prediction.  

 

TravellingWave’s VoicePredict is a patent-pending multimodal platform and an input method, where text can be inputted into a device using both voice and keypad. It is part of the company’s Predictive speech-to-text system. It has the capability to convert very large vocabularies and also fits in information from one mode (for instance letters typed using a keypad) to enhance speech recognition of spoken words. The user will have to just type in the first letter of a word and then speak in to the device, where the tool will predict and input the desired text. It can intelligently integrate information from multiple modes to produce simpler, accurate and faster text input for mobile devices, says company.

 

Zi Corporation's eZiType is a business text input tool specially developed for advanced mobile email handsets. It has the capability to correct typos automatically, predict words and as well can spot common spelling mistakes and then corrects it accordingly, there by increasing the speed and efficiency of the user’s typing. It can even eliminate duplicate words.

 

Zi Corporation's eZiText is also a text input tool that offers fast, easy, accurate text input for any electronic devices, such as mobile phones, telematics systems, set-top boxes and gaming consoles. 

Ashwin Rao, founder and CEO of TravellingWave, said, "We are delighted to work with Zi Corporation's proven products, which already reside in two leading mobile handsets. The agreement further validates our technology leadership in the multimodal space."

 

Milos Djokovic, president and CEO of Zi Corporation, said, "We are extremely excited to work with TravellingWave on the cutting edge of voice input innovation to offer new usability solutions to our mutual customers."

 

Seattle, Washington-based TravellingWave, a provider of predictive speech-to-text technology that combines traditional predictive text input with speech recognition, is partially supported by grant-awards from the National Science Foundation.

 

Zi Corporation claims that its products are featured on more than 1000 handset models and are implemented across most technology platforms in the market today.