Nuance Announces New AI-Powered Dragon Drive Features that Transform the Automotive Experience, Bridging the Gap Between In-Car and Outside-the-Car Experiences and Delivering Innovation for the Car of the Future

LAS VEGAS and BURLINGTON, Mass., Jan. 03, 2018 -- CES 2018 -- Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) today announced new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered capabilities for its Dragon Drive automotive platform. Dragon Drive now tightly integrates conversational artificial intelligence with non-verbal modalities such as gaze detection, enabling drivers to get information about and interact with places outside the car simply by looking at them; enhanced interoperability with other assistants, including in the smart home, virtual personal assistants and bots; and Just Talk, the capability to invoke the automotive assistant without pushing a button or using a wake-up word.

Powered by artificial intelligence, Dragon Drive’s conversational automotive assistant listens, understands and responds to drivers, and empowers automakers to make the AI-powered connected car experience a reality. Dragon Drive understands and learns the needs and preferences of drivers and passengers over time to provide a personalized experience, including access to entertainment, navigation, points of interest, news feeds, and in-car features such as heating and air conditioning. Dragon Drive’s innovative new features, which were honored with a CES 2018 Innovation Award in the Vehicle Intelligence and Self-Driving Technology category, include: 

• Multi-modal usage – utilizes gaze detection combined with conversational AI to allow drivers to simply look at an object or place outside the vehicle and ask questions or interact. For example, drivers can look at a restaurant and say, “call that restaurant” or “how is that restaurant rated?” or inquire about a parking garage asking, “how much does it cost to park there?” Dragon Drive can resolve the point of interest and provide a meaningful, human-like response.
• Enhanced interoperability via cognitive arbitration – enables seamless communication with a world of virtual assistants, including smart home devices; Nina, Nuance’s enterprise-grade virtual assistant for customer engagement; and other popular virtual assistants and services, thus providing users with access to their broader digital worlds. Drivers can now manage a variety of important tasks from their cars, from checking remaining months on their car lease and transferring money between bank accounts to managing home heating, lighting and security systems – both implicitly and explicitly.
• AI integration with car sensors – applies AI to key automotive functions to deliver an unprecedented level of personalized and contextually relevant results. For example, in response to a simple request to find parking, Dragon Drive considers not only the verbal information, but also contextual information such as the windshield wipers being active to infer that it might be raining and adjust the parking recommendations to prioritize covered parking.
• Enhanced multi-passenger interaction – utilizes voice biometrics and advanced audio processing technologies to recognize and allow multiple passengers to interact simultaneously with the automotive assistant without interfering with each other. For example, any passenger can say, “it’s a little cold in here.” Thanks to seating awareness and voice biometrics, Dragon Drive can respond by adjusting the climate only in the relevant zone, applying preferences of the identified user.
• Just Talk – lets occupants more quickly, naturally and intuitively engage with the automotive assistant. With Just Talk, drivers can start a conversation just as they would with a human – without needing to first press a button or explicitly say a wake-up word.

“The car is quickly rising to become the leading AI platform, especially with the future of connected and autonomous vehicles upon us,” said Arnd Weil, senior vice president, automotive, Nuance Mobile. “Utilizing a combination of conversational AI with in-car sensors and data, we’re able to create greater awareness, understanding, and ultimately intelligence for the automotive assistant, creating a truly holistic and seamless user experience for drivers.”

Dragon Drive powers more than 200 million cars on the road today across more than 40 languages, creating conversational experiences for Toyota, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Fiat, Ford, GM, Hyundai, SAIC, and more. To learn more about the ways in which Dragon Drive is amplifying the intelligence of the connected car, visit Dragon Drive on nuance.com. In addition, Nuance’s Dragon Drive connected car platform will be displayed at CES 2018, which runs January 9-12, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Nuance Communications, Inc. 
Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world.  Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications.  For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Kate Hickman 
Nuance Communications, Inc.
Tel: 781-565-4627
Email: [email protected]