Some companies just seem to creep up on the Internet of Things (IoT) software radar without any major fanfare or flag waving as they start building solutions, partnerships and products that deliver and finesse upon the way we are starting to understand what the IoT can do… Greenwave Systems is one of those firms.
Conversational IoT
California born and Danish headquartered Greenwave Systems has announced its new AXON Platform for what it calls ‘Conversational IoT’.
This, essentially, is a carrier-grade smart gateway (a piece of software and hardware that performs an essentially linking function) that supports a hands-free, voice activated speaker with customizable ‘wake-up word’.
So many new terms here so let’s try and define them all — wake-up word is used here in the same sense as ‘OK Google’ as a word to wake up your device.
The solution combines the company’s AXON Platform with advanced integrated voice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered natural language understanding (NLU) technology from Nuance.
What is AXON platform?
The AXON Platform is basically software… but it is software designed to a network manageable by ‘fortifying existing network infrastructure’ to extend it to accommodate new and emerging IoT communication mediums.
In the case of the work here with Nuance, Greenwave says it will be enabling an opportunity for service providers to create conversational IoT in multiple languages.
“AXON Platform for Conversational IoT is an end-to-end embedded and cloud-based delivery and IoT management solution for companies looking to implement a voice interface in a variety of environments, including industrial, commercial and consumer segments,” explained Martin Manniche, CEO of Greenwave Systems.
Manniche says that the solution is part of a flexible architecture with:
- voice recognition,
- text-to-speech,
- voice biometrics powered wake-up word and,
- AI-powered language understanding.
Nuance Mix supports access to cloud services such as news, weather and Q&A. In addition, the platform introduces new network features expected by carriers for HD Voice, media optimization, security and IoT end-point management. The reference implementation streamlines product development and gives providers direct control over managed services.
Greenwave powers millions of devices on advanced networks through telecom, utilities and service providers for their managed services such as audio, video, broadband and energy management systems.
The consumer litmus test
“Consumers will be the litmus test on the IoT – if these intelligent devices aren’t able to seamlessly integrate into day to day life, the opportunity for the ecosystem and consumers is lost. That’s where the AXON Platform for Conversational IoT becomes incredibly important, allowing people to easily interact with technology as it was intended,” said Kenn Harper, vice president, emerging solutions, Nuance Mobile.
The solution combines customizable voice recognition and AI with microphone beam-forming, acoustic echo cancellation, barge-in capabilities, speech signal enhancement, Bluetooth audio, Wi-Fi and Z-Wave connectivity, into a single platform that can be fully customized and scalable for the world’s leading service providers.