SVOX is an embedded

speech technology Speech technology relates to the technologies designed to duplicate and respond to the human voice. They have many uses. These include aid to the voice-disabled, the hearing-disabled, and the blind, along with communication with computers without a ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

founded in 2000 and headquartered in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. SVOX was acquired by

Nuance Communications Nuance Communications, Inc. is an American multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, that markets speech recognition and artificial intelligence software. Nuance merged with its compe ...

in 2011. The company's products included

Automated Speech Recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the ma ...

(ASR),

Text-to-Speech Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal langu ...

(TTS) and Speech Dialog systems, with customers mostly being manufacturers and system integrators in automotive and mobile device industries.

History

SVOX was started in 2000 by researchers at Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , a ...

) and first focused exclusively on Speech Output (TTS) solutions for

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % ...

. In 2002, Siemens Mobile Acceleration (today's smac, partners GmbH) invested into SVOX. Later, as the market for Personal Navigation Devices and

smartphones A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

developed, the company started to supply those markets as well. In 2008, SVOX released Pico, a small-footprint TTS system optimized for mobile phones. In parallel, SVOX has branched into

Speech Recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the ...

and Speech Dialog. As part of that process, the company acquired Professional Speech Processing Group of

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

in early 2009. In 2009, SVOX made headlines with news that

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

had chosen to include the company's Pico TTS solution into the 1.6 release of Android platform. In June 2011,

acquired SVOX.

Products

SVOX products include

(ASR),

(TTS) and Speech Dialog systems. Typical uses include: * destination entry and voice directions in

turn-by-turn navigation Turn-by-turn Navigation is a feature of some satellite navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best ...

systems; * voice dialing and

caller ID Caller identification (Caller ID) is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call i ...

announcement in mobile phones and in-car telematics systems; * Point of Interest (POI) output and traffic information in navigation systems (PND and in-car). The company's speech products are especially popular with German carmakers such as

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company ...

, BMW, Daimler, and VW and are often found in premium cars.

References

External links

Official Company Website (now redirected to Nuance)

smac, partners GmbH
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svox Software companies of Switzerland Private equity firms

History

Products

See also

References

External links