Drivers Able to Use Telematics to Request Dynamic Content Downloads
To Their Vehicle
DETROIT, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Manually entering a destination into the
many varieties of in-vehicle and portable navigation systems on the market
often presents both potential distraction and irritating inconvenience to
drivers. Now, drivers can simply speak a destination into a telematics-based,
automated voice response system and have the destination directions or other
dynamic (continually updated) content downloaded to their vehicle, where they
can play them in either an audio or visual format depending on the type of
navigation device used.
This integration of continually-updated information, automated in-vehicle
voice technology and stand-alone mobile navigation systems is the latest
innovation in telematics offered to automakers by ATX Group, the world's
second largest telematics service provider to the automotive industry.
Voice automated destination entry is uniquely suited to off-board
telematics systems. These systems cannot only keep up with changes - added
street names, improved map data, new roads, etc. - but also can correct for
existing map data errors. The off-board, high-speed servers offer computing
power and databases that overcome limitations of embedded systems, those that
are self-contained within the vehicle. Furthermore, real-time traffic
information can be used to optimize routes and even estimate the travel time.
"This makes using a vehicle navigation system so much easier. No more
body leaning or finger punching or scrolling destination data into a computer.
You just press a button and tell the system where you want to go," said Dr.
Tom Schalk, ATX vice president of voice systems. "It's particularly helpful
to those who often have to learn how to use a new navigation device every time
they rent a vehicle or when they purchase or lease a new vehicle. This
essentially offers drivers a universal interface."
ATX's proprietary platform for voice-activated destination entry is very
distinct from what's been previously attempted in the North American and
European markets, leveraging the interactive voice technology developed for
hands-free delivery of its traditional location-based telematics services. By
monitoring the actual, in-vehicle interfaces between drivers and ATX's voice
systems, ATX can continually enhance the quality of the system's capability to
interpret driver comments - essentially, self-correcting itself without having
to replace hardware in the vehicle or requiring the driver to bring the car
into a service center.
Beyond the simple man-machine interface, another key benefit is ATX's
information route engine located off-board the vehicle, enabling drivers to
rely on high-speed servers and rich content databases to get more up-to-date
and real-time information much quicker than what can be accessed from on-board
computers. In contrast to navigation systems that rely on on-board compact
disks and DVDs whose content becomes quickly outdated, telematics-based
navigation content can keep up with changes as they occur without the cost or
inconvenience to the vehicle owner of an upgrade in the navigation unit. In
addition, the telematics-based system has the built-in flexibility to offer
drivers an interface with either an automated, interactive voice system or a
live operator.
"What we want to demonstrate is that telematics can be leveraged for a
variety of uses that not only provide greater convenience and greater safety
to the driver but help automakers and possibly other fleet operators add value
to the navigation systems they've already installed in the vehicle or that
they carry into the vehicle," said Ron West, executive vice president of sales
and marketing for ATX.
West explained that ATX's ability to adapt its interactive voice
technology to the driver-navigation screen interface helps overcome the
concern that many vehicle owners harbor toward advanced electronics
increasingly being installed in vehicles. ATX's interactive voice response
technology was specifically developed to deliver traditional, location-based
telematics services into the unique acoustic environment of the vehicle
cockpit and can be adapted and enhanced over the lifetime of the vehicle
without a visit to the service center. Reliance on adaptive dialogues not
only enables the system to be continually enhanced based on actual field
experiences of driver-machine interfaces, but also eventually evolves into an
application reflecting the individual user's personalized experiences and
needs with the system.
Pilot testing conducted by ATX involves interfacing with in-vehicle,
navigation-screen systems that can take the destination or point of interest
information from ATX and then calculate a route using on-board navigation
screen technology, as well as systems that also rely on ATX to provide the
actual routing instructions.
ATX's capability to provide the driver with dynamic, off-vehicle content
primarily entails access to real-time traffic and road conditions using
content aggregated from several content suppliers.
ATX Group serves markets in both North America and Western Europe. The
company's telematics services are provided through the two-way communication
of voice and data between a subscriber's telematics-equipped automobile and
ATX response and data centers.
Based in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area and Dusseldorf, Germany, ATX
Group is the world's second largest provider of telematics services for the
automobile industry, serving both North America and Europe. ATX telematics
services are designed to provide enhanced safety, security and driving
convenience to vehicle owners. These services include location-specific
emergency and roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, stolen
vehicle recovery, remote diagnostics and real-time traffic and navigation
assistance. ATX, the largest independent telematics provider not owned by an
automobile manufacturer or telecommunications firm, also provides telematics
services designed to help automobile manufacturers and their affiliated
dealerships to use telematics data to reduce costs, enhance vehicle servicing,
and more closely manage customer relationships. ATX services are provided to
vehicle owners through the brand names of its customers -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW,
Maybach, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. ATX is an unregistered trademark of ATX
Group, Inc.
For more information, visit http://www.atxg.com .
SOURCE ATX
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Related links:
http://www.atxg.com
CONTACT:
Gary Wallace, vice president, corporate
relations of ATX Group, +1-800-511-5891, or +1-972-753-6230,
gwallace@atxg.com ; or Carrie Cioffi of Eisbrenner Public
Relations, +1-248-641-1446, ccioffi@eisbrenner.com , for ATX
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