Speech Recognition Trains Next-Generation of Air Traffic Controllers

MENLO PARK, CA - Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) announced that the company's speech recognition software has been selected for Adacel's MaxSim, the air traffic control simulator. This new voice-driven system will be used to train air traffic control personnel, including those in the U.S. military. Since November 2001, Adacel has been selected for North American civil and defense air traffic simulation and management systems worth over $100 million, including programs for the U.S. Air Force , U.S. Army, and the Federal Aviation Administration. The MaxSim product was developed in combination with Nuance partner Newfound Communications Inc., a developer of VoiceXML-based speech technologies and services. Adacel MaxSim is a training system that mimics the actual experience of an air traffic controller. Featuring computer generated radar screen images, MaxSim enables students to verbally guide aircrafts into and out of assigned radar sectors through the use of Nuance 8.0 speech recognition software. Newfound Communications worked with Adacel to achieve the multimodal solution to recognize and instantly respond via visual changes in the radar images to the standard voice command and control phrases used by air traffic control operators, such as "sierra two six, you are number three to land; follow three eight five on downwind, over." "There are a number of challenges inherent in developing a speech-enabled air traffic control application such as Adacel MaxSim, such as the proper management of large and complex grammars," said Lionel Leveille, President and CEO of Adacel Inc. "We tested a number of speech solutions and found Newfound and Nuance to be the only providers that could deliver the speech recognition accuracy and system scalability we required."