LONDON, Nov. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Based on its recent analysis of the digital virtual assistant industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes German Autolabs (www.germanautolabs.com) with the 2017 Europe New Product Innovation Award for its smart mobile solution, “Chris”, a proactive artificial intelligence (AI) digital co-driver that allows the driver to focus on the primary task of driving without getting distracted by a smartphone and other technologies or devices.

The issue of driver distraction requires immediate attention. In light of this challenging road hazard, support systems that incorporate voice recognition technology in the automotive space are inevitable. Voice recognition is promising in terms of offering value-added and connected services safely. Currently, the technology is available as a part of major infotainment systems in the market offered by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), such as BMW’s ConnectedDrive and Ford’s SYNC. Most of these OEMs use command-based voice recognition systems that require the driver to learn specific commands, a task that has potential to cause confusion in a critical scenario.

“To reduce the cognitive load on the driver, any support technology incorporated into the vehicle’s human machine interface (HMI) must allow the driver to communicate freely with the system,” said Industry Analyst Ramnath Eswaravadivoo. “Technology solutions need to be intuitive, balancing out the implementation of technology operation with user safety.”

The major challenge, however, is to capture the user’s speech accurately in a noisy car environment and create a spoken dialogue system that does not require the driver’s full attention. The critical need across the automotive industry is a natural speech recognition system that will make user interaction as casual, intuitive, and easy as possible.

German Autolabs’ Chris addresses these challenges. Chris offers an extremely intuitive user experience, with integrated technologies that have minimal learning curve, perfect for use by any age group globally. This plug-and-play solution can integrate with any car and smartphone for ease of use, and it comes with the following key features:

• Lifelong continuous updates that arrive over-the-air (OTA)
• Equipped with a rechargeable Li-ion battery that holds a one-week battery life (stand-by), one hour of operation, and requires a simple 12V plug-in socket (cigarette lighter) or USB port to charge, either of which are available in all vehicles
• Functions in most temperatures, ranging from 0°C to + 45°C (storage: -20° to + 65° C)
• Equipped to work with both simple hand gestures, such as a swipe left and right or up and down to increase or decrease the volume, and voice recognition

“The device’s intuitive performance is based on a state-of-the-art gesture recognition sensor; built-in, voice-optimised speaker; and a digital microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphone for voice recognition,” said Eswaravadivoo. “The speech recognition feature includes automatic speech recognition, natural language understanding, dialogue management, natural language generation, and text-to-speech technologies, all supported by AI. The digital co-driver learns driver behaviour and preferences through the driver’s interaction with it.”

German Autolabs’ proactive, contextual, AI-enabled digital assistant is a unique innovation in intelligent automotive assistant technology in the voice recognition space, and the company’s leading motive is offering best-in-class service to its customers. It has created a solution using an innovative design and proactive approach to safety, quality, and reliability, as well as its commitment to customers’ ease of use. For these reasons, German Autolabs has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2017 Europe New Product Innovation Award.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed an innovative element in a product by leveraging leading-edge technologies. The award recognizes the value-added features/benefits of the product and the increased return on investment (ROI) it gives customers, which, in turn, raises customer acquisition and overall market penetration potential.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About German Autolabs

German Autolabs is building a digital assistant for drivers, which will make access to apps and services while on the road safer and more convenient. The Berlin-based startup utilizes the latest voice and gesture control technology, alongside Artificial Intelligence. The combination of an interoperable, scalable software platform for cognitive assistance with a retrofit hardware device democratizes the latest connected car technology – making it accessible to everyone. Founders Holger G. Weiss (former CEO, Aupeo) and Patrick Weissert (former Director Consumer, HERE) rely on an interdisciplinary team of experts for hardware and software development. For more information please visit germanautolabs.com

About Frost & Sullivan

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan