• Weds, Feb 23, 2005, 9:45 AM - 11:00 AM
  Track: Application Development
  Phonetic Learning tool to face user formulations variability and pronunciation variants
  by Rosanna Duce, (VP Sales&Marketing, Loquendo) and Luciano Fissore (Senior Technical Leader, Loquendo)
  
  This presentation will provide an overview of Loquendo’s ASR phonetic learning tool, which automatically analyses application data to pinpoint the most significant weaknesses, with the purpose of improving application performance. This tool is now available to speech application developers. It proves extremely useful in complex applications, where it is very difficult to predict the way in which a user will formulate an utterance, and also in the case of strong regional accents and non-native speakers.
  Costs involved in using this tool are minimal, as it requires no acoustic model retraining. For further details, see here.
  
  
  
• Tues, Feb 22, 2005, 2:45 AM - 4:15 AM
  Track: Advanced Technology Symposium
  Latest advancements in TTS: Mixed-language Support and Audio Mixer
  by Piergiorgio Vittori (Area Manager - Americas Region, Loquendo)
  
  This presentation will provide an overview of Loquendo’s latest technological developments in text to speech, demonstrating their flexibility and how easy they are to exploit, especially following the introduction of Loquendo TTS Director, a multi-platform Java development tool.
  Loquendo TTS Director enables the creation and management of high-quality synthetic speech prompts that effortlessly use all Loquendo’s advanced features, including expressive speech.
  The major advanced features to be exploited by Loquendo TTS Director includes:
  • Control tags: i.e. voice, language, prosody, pronunciation, spelling and pausing, audio mixer, enabling the right choice to be made easily
  • Effects: smoothly guides designers through the software’s advanced features, which include "expressive cues" and "plug-in lexicons" to obtain the effect required among those available for the active voice;
  • Write&Listen: Play and Stop buttons allow the edited text to be synthesized
  
  
  
• Weds, Feb 23, 2005, 3:15 AM - 4:45 AM
  Track: Advanced Technology Symposium
  Helping Visually Impaired People with Embedded Speech Technologies
  by Silvio Nasi (Product Manager, Embedded Technologies, Loquendo)
  
  Speech technologies can play a key role in enabling people with disabilities to improve their daily interactions.
  The presentation will focus on the eVALUES Project "E-library Voice AppLication for eUropean Blind, Elderly and Sight-impaired" funded by the European Commission, eTEN Programme providing to sight impaired people, in particular blind and elderly, but also other kind of people with disabilities and barriers to read, a trans-European service -based on Internet- enabling to access to written information (downloadable t extual content) by means of Text-to-Speech, using a PC and/or a portable handheld PDA, and other specific mobile devices for disabled, enabling mobility.
  Many other use cases will be illustrated, such as:
  • Phone for Hearing impairment by TecTel which exploits both ASR and TTS;
  • Pocket PC Communicator by Oralys (CA), where active ideography, combined to multi-sensory elements using sound and symbols, enables to communicate quickly and effectively with a simple touch;
  • Personify Ambassador by Personify Technologies Inc. (CA), where a 3D Personification Simulating Human Interaction through various technologies suitable for those with physical limitations and hearing impairments;
  • Library of eBooks by ONCE (ES) and by CNIB (CA) for the publication in Braille, print, audio or electronic format of all types of publications.
  
  

STANDARDS CORNER

• VoiceXML Forum and Related Activities at SpeechTEK West 2005
  February 21-23, 2005
  Visit the VoiceXML Forum's exhibit booth #221and experience the VoiceXML Application Showcase; attend VoiceXML-related panel sessions; register for X+V hands-on training; take the VoiceXML Developer Certification practice test; and Meet the VoiceXML BoD!
  
  
• Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Working Draft Call Published
  February 14, 2005
  The Pronunciation Lexicon Specification (PLS) Version 1.0 is a new markup language that allows users to define application-specific pronunciation lexicons (i.e. proper names, acronyms, etc.) in a standard formalism. The PLS will be referenced by speech recognition grammars (written in SRGS 1.0 format) and in SSML 1.0 documents to be read by a TTS engine. Please send any comments and suggestions about PLS to the W3C Voice Browser public mailing list, www-voice@w3.org, by March 14, 2005.
  Paolo Baggia (Loquendo) is the author of this new specification.
  
  
• Workshop on Voice, Natural Language and Semantic Web Technologies (VNLSW2005)
  February 7, 2005
  In the current state of the art there are both successful and not so successful stories of the isolated use of these technologies in different types of applications, as well as the integration of any combination of the two (voice and natural language, voice and Semantic Web, and natural language and Semantic Web). However it is not so easy to find this type of story regarding the integration of all three technologies. For instance, in a recent survey of EU IST projects carried out in the context of the EU IST project HOPS, it was determined that many dealt specifically with only one of these areas, and around 10 projects concentrated on more than one area, but never all three.
  The objective of this workshop is to stimulate cross-discipline discussion. Hence we will aim to have extensive time for discussion following each presentation. Important dates are:
  • Paper Submission: March 31st, 2005
  • Notification of acceptance: April 15th, 2005
  • Camera ready deadline: May 1st, 2005
  • Workshop at Heraklion, Greece: May 29th, 2005

LOQUENDO Products

• Loquendo Unveils New VoxNauta Platform Functionalities
  February 14, 2005
  The new Loquendo VoxNauta packaging enables customers to exploit the latest achievements in Loquendo speech technology and Loquendo VoiceXML interpreter by integrating VoxNauta alongside the PABX/IVR platform of their choice. Loquendo’s new offering takes its place alongside the Loquendo Speech Suite product line, which offers integrators MRCP support.
  Customers are free to carry out their integration even without additional telephone access or dedicated PABX extensions, thanks to Loquendo’s public DAP (Dynamic Access Protocol) protocol. The DAP protocol is a message-based interface running on the TCP/IP protocol, which allows total independence from IVR technologies. The platform, which is extremely flexible, can be configured as Full dialog (VoxNauta, Loquendo ASR, Loquendo TTS), ASR-only (VoxNauta, Loquendo ASR), TTS-only (VoxNauta, Loquendo TTS), VoiceXML-only (VoxNauta with pre-recorded files and DTMF).
  Customers can now choose between a complete telephony platform offering a wide range of voice access technologies - including NMS analog and digital boards, Intel analog boards and SIP-RTP VoIP - and now also the simple DAP protocol integration that interface with any telephony or multimodal front-end available on the market. This means that customers using Loquendo’s VoxNauta platform leverage previous IVR investments and reap the benefits of best in class technology. >> More

Clients & Partners

• Loquendo and Oration SA sign VAR Agreement
  February 17, 2005
  Loquendo announced that it has entered into an agreement with Oration SA, a leading Greek speech solutions provider, establishing the latter as a Value Added Reseller for Loquendo’s telephony and multimedia Text To Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition products in Europe.
  Through this agreement, Oration will be offering - at more favourable terms - its next generation IVR solutions. Further, Loquendo’s multimedia Text To Speech will open-up new markets for the company through the provision of applications of such type for the disabled, museums, info kiosks, etc. >> More
• QualiLife Improves Quality of Life With Loquendo Technology
  February 15, 2005
  In collaboration with Loquendo, QualiLife - the world leader in the development and distribution of state-of-the-art Assistive Technology software designed to improve the quality of life of the elderly and disabled, continues to lead the market with a range of innovative solutions powered by Loquendo's high-quality multilingual speech technology.
  QualiLife has incorporated Loquendo's best in class speech technologies in all its software solutions - including the QualiWORLD solution, designed to help people with disabilities achieve greater independence anywhere, e.g. at home, in hospital, at work, in retirement homes and in everyday life. >> More
• Telefónica Soluciones integrates Loquendo technology in its voice applications platform
  February 1, 2005
  Loquendo, the global speech technology company and Telefónica Soluciones, the integration and consulting division of Grupo Telefónica, have signed a partner agreement whereby the Loquendo TTS synthetic speech engine and Loquendo ASR automatic voice recognition technology will be integrated within Telefónica Soluciones' ManagerVox® voice applications creation and deployment platform. The agreement was strongly motivated by the high level of insistence with which Telefónica Soluciones customers requested Loquendo technology, which features a range of characteristics that set it apart from other speech products on the market. >> More

Events

• ININ EMEA Partner Conference,
  Sheraton Airport Hotel, Schiphol, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1-2 March 2005
• GENESYS Partner Forum,
  Rome, 3-4 March 2005
• Voice World Europe 2005,
  London, Olympia Conference Center, 4-5 May 2005