VoiceBox – With Assist from SVOX – Simplifies Spoken Destination Entry on TomTom PNDs

Newly released versions of TomTom personal navigation devices (meaning the GO 2435, GO 2535 and GO LIVE 2535) as well as the VIA Series will enable their owners to use “natural language” to input destination. The example provided by TomTom on its Web site is, “Take me to 55 Main Street, Anywhere, USA,” which replaces the more cumbersome, long-time method of entering a city name, street name and then number. According to this release VoiceBox Technologies, using the embedded speech recognition engine from SVOX AG, provides user interface for locations in the United States and Canada.

TomTom is, by no means, the only horse in the natural language race. Nuance Communications, for instance, has VoCon “One Shot Destination Entry” baked into the nav systems in prestige nameplates, including Audi, BMW, Ford and Mercedes-Benz. In February, the company began offering a pre-packaged SDK (Software Development Kit) called VoCon Navigation, which it calls a “ready-to-integrate pre-packaged voice application module for embedded one-shot destination entry.”

As we see state troopers and local law enforcement cracking down on distracted drivers, the simplification of destination entry for navigation systems is becoming a valuable attribute.