Voice recognition software maker Nuance Communications has announced that robot maker ROOBO will be using the Nuance Mix NLU development platform, which provides voice and natural language (NLU) capabilities, to create conversational and cognitive interfaces for ROOBO robots and devices.
Additionally, Nuance and ROOBO are set to collaborate on future integrations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to advance conversational interfaces for intelligent IoT devices.
Based in Beijing, China, ROOBO is a global platform for the incubation and distribution of intelligent hardware and software through open platforms for AI and robotics, including the recently launched Domgy and Pudding consumer robots.
These robots integrate Nuance’s voice recognition, NLU and text-to-speech – giving them the ability to listen, understand and respond, and ultimately create a more human connection through a conversational interface.
ROOBO said that it will initially integrate Nuance Mix as part of its open robotics and AI platforms, providing developers with access to voice recognition, NLU, text–to-speech, wake-up word, voice biometrics and signal enhancement capabilities – making possible a customisable end-to-end conversational interface.
Through Deep Learning and data-driven AI, Nuance Mix will give robots the ability to quickly expand their vocabulary and their breadth of understanding – learning along the way just as humans do through the application of both speech and contextual data.
“We see incredible opportunity for robots to create deep and personal experiences for people through the application of human language and gesture. Nuance’s expansive portfolio of voice and cognitive technologies brings our robots to life with the ability to listen, understand, speak and deliver outcomes that keep people entertained, informed, productive and delighted,” said Fangming Yin, co-founder and President of ROOBO.
“Nuance and ROOBO have a shared vision for the relationship between people and technology – that it will be simple, effortless and driven by the ability to converse and interact organically,” said Kenn Harper, vice president of Emerging Solutions, Nuance Mobile.
“Mix gives developers like ROOBO the ability to quickly create and scale language models that have the ability to expand overtime through data-driven AI and machine learning in more than ten languages.”
“The result? Robots that talk to us just the way we would to each other.”