Nuance Communications Powers ''TALKMAN(TM) EURO'' for ''PSP(TM)'' (PlayStation(R) Portable)
biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday July 12, 8:00 am ET
Nuance Speech Recognition Engine Enables Voice-Activated Translation Software Application
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 12, 2006--Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has implemented voice recognition technology from Nuance to speech-enable the "TALKMAN(TM) EURO" game, which was released in late-May in Japan and mid-June in Europe. "TALKMAN(TM)," a portable language entertainment tool and interactive phrasebook, allows users to communicate more than 3,000 phrases in six languages.
Using Nuance's voice recognition middleware, VoCon(TM) Games Speech SDK for PSP(TM), "TALKMAN(TM) EURO" can recognize Japanese, British English, French, German, Italian and Spanish phrases using a dedicated microphone designed for "PSP(TM)." The voice-activated system provides translations for situations that a user may encounter while traveling to a foreign destination, such as at a hotel, train station, restaurant, ski resort, police station or night club. Users speak phrases in their native languages, and the system then translates the phrase and repeats it in the selected language. "TALKMAN(TM)" also includes two games that challenge language fluency.
The first "TALKMAN(TM)," released in Japan and other Asian countries in November 2005, also employs Nuance's VoCon(TM) Games Speech SDK for PSP(TM) to support four languages including Japanese, American English, Chinese, and Korean.
VoCon(TM) Games Speech SDK for PSP(TM), one of Nuance's solutions in the VoCon product line of embedded speech recognition engines, has provided outstanding speech recognition technology for the creation of several games since 1999. With the high recognition rate, versatile functions for precise control, and the ability to support multiple languages and platforms, the VoCon product line has been widely deployed in car navigation systems, mobile devices and console games.
"We created a new level of realism in the game play by adopting speech recognition as the natural interface between the player and the gaming characters, bringing an unprecedented game experience to the international gamers community," commented Yoshiteru Yamamoto, creator of the "TALKMAN(TM)" series and producer of SCE Worldwide Studios Japan Studio. "Nuance's Speech SDK has proven to be a very flexible software development tool to incorporate speech recognition engine in 'TALKMAN(TM) EURO.'"
"Speech technologies continue to revolutionize traditional applications such as gaming," said Alan Schwartz, vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, Nuance. "This application is a stellar example of our impact, and we look forward to working with SCE in the future as it develops other new titles that incorporate this exciting new interface." |
