London UK – September 11, 2017 – Nuance Communications, Inc. today announced that its Dragon Drive connected car platform will power all conversational, connected services in the new Audi A8, with additional Audi models to follow. Dragon Drive utilises cloud-based speech recognition, natural language understanding, and text-to-speech (TTS) to create a truly conversational automotive assistant that listens, understands and responds to drivers.
Dragon Drive will provide Audi A8 drivers with a fully customised, conversational system that is deeply integrated with the Audi vehicle, giving them voice-controlled access to all connected services, including weather, points of interest and addresses, parking, petrol stations, as well as calendars and notes. The platform also provides access to embedded services like music and navigation and in-car functions such as air conditioning. Dragon Drive can interact with drivers through automotive-grade signal enhancement and acoustics innovation combined with hybrid embedded-cloud speech recognition and natural language understanding, as well as text-to-speech.
“The Audi A8 is designed to provide a luxurious, highly automated driving experience, and that includes a truly intuitive automotive assistant that can engage in natural conversation,” said Martin Deinhard, Head Of Development Connected Services & Speech Assistant, Audi. “Nuance’s Dragon Drive is the ideal platform for the delightful user experience reflecting our brand.”
Dragon Drive will be available in the Audi A8 in multiple languages, including US and UK English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and more. In addition, message dictation will be supported in Czech, Dutch, Portuguese (EU), Swedish and Turkish. Nuance worked with Audi to further improve the sound of its exclusive German TTS voice to provide a natural sounding Audi experience for drivers.
“An intelligent and trustworthy automotive assistant is crucial in a world with autonomous vehicles, and the Audi A8 proves that the future is right around the corner,” said Arnd Weil, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Automotive. “Dragon Drive creates a seamless experience for Audi A8 drivers, giving them easy access to all of their favourite apps and services.”
Dragon Drive powers more than 180 million cars on the road today across more than 40 languages, creating conversational experiences for Audi, BMW, Ford, GM and many others. To learn more about the ways in which Dragon Drive is amplifying the intelligence of the connected car, visit Dragon Drive on nuance.com. To learn more about the Audi A8, visit the Audi MediaCenter.
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.