20/20 Speech Announces Aurix Activator

LONDON, ENGLAND - A two-way speech interface for Microsoft Windows based PDAs is the latest technology development from 20/20 Speech, the equity venture between NXT and QinetiQ. Utilizing 20/20 Speech's speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies, the new Aurix Activator, enables Pocket PC 2002 users to access their calendar, messages and tasks by speaking commands, which in turn are answered in spoken output. Aurix Activator represents a step forward for 20/20 Speech as the combination of Aurix asr and Aurix tts working together on a Pocket PC 2002 device provides an industry leading combination, both in terms of recognition performance and speech quality. A key aspect of Aurix asr is that it incorporates proprietary optimization technology which enables the software to automatically adapt to different user voices, and which ensures the software is less susceptible to external noise interference. Significant advances have also been made in terms of optimizing performance with typical PDA microphones. The other principal technology involved in the Aurix Activator is Aurix tts, 20/20 Speech's text-to-speech engine that simulates the behaviour of a human vocal tract. Combining this approach with modelling techniques proprietary to 20/20 Speech means that Aurix tts requires little computer memory, is intelligible, and can be installed straight on to the mobile device itself. As complementary speech-input and speech-output technologies, Aurix asr and Aurix tts are designed to work together and can be integrated to voice-enable typical PDA applications. The new software package will be ideal for use in 'eyes-busy', 'hands-busy' environments such as in-vehicle, especially as the issue of external noise interference does not significantly affect the performance of the software, allowing the user to employ the technology in normal traffic conditions. Aurix Activator is aimed at the growing number of mobile wireless computer users who conduct increasing amounts of business and personal messaging on the move. With over 50 million text and email messages sent to mobile devices per day in the UK alone, Aurix Activator allows users to maintain contact with people and information on the move.