SoundHound Launches the Houndify Platform
SoundHound , a provider of sound recognition and search technologies, today launched Houndify, an advanced developer platform that enables users to create voice-enabled conversational interfaces. Several partner companies, including Expedia.com and AccuWeather, have committed to providing their own data and APIs to the Houndify platform so developers can integrate with their services.
Houndify initially unveiled its private beta program in June and quickly received thousands of applications, ranging from large enterprises to individual developers. The platform is now open to anyone. Third-party products can integrate Houndify's technology, including the following:
- Speech-to-Meaning technology, which simultaneously combines voice recognition and natural language understanding;
- Context understanding and follow-up questions, including awareness of location or prior queries; and
- Complex and compound queries, meaning users can ask multiple questions at once with results filtered or in sequence.
"The demand for a fast and accurate, natural, voice-enabled, and conversational interface to the exploding number of connected devices is upon us," said Keyvan Mohajer, SoundHound's founder and CEO, in a statement. "Houndify provides the technologies for the next generation of human-computer interaction, and by opening our platform, third parties can instantly ignite their own products and services with natural voice commands, benefitting from the years it took us to develop this visionary technology."
Additionally, Houndify's platform design provides cross-platform software development kits (SDKs) across many popular operating systems and platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, Unix, Raspberry Pi, and others. Houndify also offers developers access to a rapidly growing number of published and private domains, which are programs that provide users with relevant information or actions related to their queries, from home automation, to car control, to local search, to weather, to sports, and beyond.
"The necessary capabilities for this type of technology have historically been inaccessible, difficult to learn, and prohibitive for mass adoption," Mohajer said in the statement. "For the first time, Houndify provides an easy way to create custom experiences using voice, while being platform-agnostic and rapidly scalable."
Soundhound's launch partners include the following:
- Expedia.com: hotel, flight and vacation booking data;
- AccuWeather: local weather information and forecasts;
- Sportradar: pre-match, live, and post-match data for more than 50 sports;
- Xignite: deep stock market information;
- FlightStats: real-time flight data and airport information; and
- Open Exchange Rates: real-time currency exchange rates.
"By making our API available through Houndify, we are thrilled to be a part of the upcoming disruption in voice-enabled conversational interfaces with connected devices and the Internet of Things, where our data will be available to anyone, anywhere," said David Mitchell, vice president of emerging platforms at AccuWeather, in a statement.
"We see a future whereby travelers are compelled to use voice interaction with products and services," said George Hatoun, director of product management at Expedia, in a statement. "We are excited by the thought of app users saying, 'Show me 4- or 5-Star pet-friendly hotels in Seattle for this weekend that cost less than $300 per night' and instantly receiving an answer with the hotels most relevant to the user's voice search. Hound is leading the way in this space, and Houndify is a great platform to explore its potential."
"SoundHound is revolutionizing the way people interact with devices, information, and services," said Stephane Dubois, Xignite CEO and founder, in a statement. "Real-time market data is now consumed by professionals and average consumers on billions of devices worldwide. We are excited to see the first voice-enabled products that will let users verbally ask for and receive a stock quote based on our market data."
The first application to showcase the Houndify platform is SoundHound's own voice search and assistant app, Hound. Hound launched in June and is currently live on Android and iOS through an invite-only private beta program.