Nuance Unveils VoCon Navigation for Personal Navigation Devices and Mobile Navigation Apps

Nuance Communications has released VoCon Navigation, a ready-to-integrate pre-packaged voice application module for embedded one-shot destination entry, making it even easier and faster for personal navigation device (PND) manufacturers and mobile navigation application developers to bring voice-enabled navigation innovations to market.

VoCon Navigation features the same Nuance One-Shot Destination Entry capabilities that have been deployed by the world’s leading auto manufacturers, including Audi, BMW, Ford, and Mercedes-Benz.

An extension of Nuance’s broader automotive speech portfolio, VoCon Navigation is a plug-and-play module that gives PND manufacturers and mobile navigation app developers the ability to take advantage of Nuance’s advances in embedded natural language understanding technology, allowing drivers to speak a navigation address in just a single command. They can simply say, “6801 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California,” and within seconds have the route calculate before heading off to their destination with no step-by-step address confirmation needed. VoCon Navigation also features partial street name entry, so even if drivers simply say “6801 Hollywood,” they will still be prompted for Hollywood Boulevard.

In addition to the one-shot destination voice recognition capabilities, VoCon Navigation provides a complete set of grammars, text-to-speech capabilities, dialogue flow, and links to the graphical user interface. And with Nuance’s platform flexibility and broad language support, navigation manufacturers and developers can deliver voice-enabled navigation solutions for a variety of countries and regions.

“With the incredible demand for voice-enabled navigation devices and applications, developers and manufacturers require trusted and proven plug-and-play technology that enables them to bring voice innovations to market faster,” said Arnd Weil, vice president and general manager of Nuance Automotive. “We designed VoCon Navigation with this mind, providing PND manufacturers and mobile app developers with a complete, easy-to-integrate one-shot voice offering that brings our advances in natural language understanding to more consumers, platforms and devices worldwide.”