Sensory Expands Waze Voice Command Feature
Sensory, a provider of speech and vision technologies for consumer electronics, is now incorporating its TrulyHandsfree solution within the popular Waze app to expand the service's voice command feature.
TrulyHandsfree will allow Waze users to set destinations, report traffic jams, get directions and estimated arrival times, find alternate routes, and more by saying "OK Waze" followed by their voice commands.
"By working with Sensory we've been able further enhance the Waze user experience by making voice control more natural to activate and easier to use," said Dudu Noy of Waze's product team, in a statement. "Rather than using a screen tap, as was necessary previously, it's fun and fast to say 'OK Waze!' and tell the app what you'd like to do next. We've added a variety of new commands, like 'What's my next turn?' and 'When will I get there?' There's lots to discover, whether you're a new driver or long-time Wazer."
Introduced in 2009, TrulyHandsfree is an embedded small vocabulary speech recognition system that features an always-listening wake word and now incorporates Sensory's deep neural network technologies and shallow learning approach.
"I love the Waze app, and I have been an avid user for years, but without a passenger in the car I don't utilize all the features because I avoid touching the screen while driving. Adding the trigger word to activate voice commands is the perfect solution, and I'm excited to have Sensory be a part of it," said Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory, in a statement. "TrulyHandsfree is currently used to recognize OK Google, Alexa, Cortana, Hey Siri, and several dozen other products on the market. It's awesome to add OK Waze to that mix."
TrulyHandsfree can be found on more than 2 billion devices worldwide. It runs on all major operating systems, including Linux, Android, iOS, and Windows, as well as customized low-power support for dozens of proprietary digital signal processors, microcontrollers, smart microphones, and other low-power platforms.