Connexis Champions Cutting Edge Speech Recognition Research with Donation to Carnegie Mellon University

OAK BROOK, IL, November 17, 2008 – Connexis, a pioneer in next-generation telematics, announced the donation of $120,000 to the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University to support the advancement of the university’s cutting edge research on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and other speech recognition technologies. This donation reflects Connexis’s continued commitment to the advancement of leading-edge speech recognition technologies in the automotive environment.

NLP is part of a Connexis strategic initiative to develop a natural language interface between drivers and telematics systems. Robust in-vehicle speech recognition is of increasing importance to the advancement of the telematics industry, enabling significant cost reductions that improve the customer value proposition and promote increased service usage. Because of the noisy nature of the in-vehicle environment, it can be difficult for traditional speech recognition software to understand spoken commands. Connexis is developing technologies that enable an in-vehicle computer to maintain accuracy even when the input speech is degraded or when the characteristics of the speech differ in various environments.

Connexis’s People-Assisted Computer Systems (PACS)™ platform uses speech recognition together with human agents to answer telematics requests with the quality and speed of a dedicated operator, but at a far lower cost. NLP will enable the PACS™ platform to interpret customers’ voice requests for location-based services in their native language, without the need for multiple steps of confirmation or complicated patterns of speech. This will allow drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and formulate their requests naturally as if they were talking to a live agent."

“We are proud to continue our partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, which is a true trailblazer in speech recognition research, and are pleased to support its continued efforts in this important field,” noted Kenji Ikeura, President of Connexis. “Speech recognition technology will have a significant impact on roadway safety by providing drivers with the ability to communicate hands-free with telematics systems. Such ability will reduce driver distraction and enhance the driving experience while providing drivers and passengers with a wide array of exciting telematics services.”

“We at Carnegie Mellon do our best research when working with pioneering organizations such as Connexis,” said Peter Lee, head of the Computer Science Department in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science. “Tackling important, real-world problems helps to accelerate research progress and attract the best talent to our university. Moreover, the support from Connexis enables us to extend our work in language processing and enhance several of our open-source systems.”

About Connexis

Connexis works with vehicle manufacturers worldwide to deliver superior, cost-effective telematics services through long-term partnerships. Our end-to-end capabilities include protocol conversion and data routing, call centers, and connections to content providers. Drawing on the capabilities of our sister company SEI, a global provider of customized call center services, Connexis offers vehicle manufacturers many of the functions needed for a complete and flexible telematics solution. Our parent, Ygomi, and its companies have improved life and commerce worldwide for more than 30 years through the imaginative application of information technology.
www.connexis.com

About Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts, and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. For more, see www.cmu.edu.

Connexis Media Contact:

Ken Cordes
+1 312 550 6860
cordes@ygomi.com
www.ygomi.com

Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science Media Contact:

Byron Spice
Office: +1 412 268 9068
bspice@cs.cmu.edu

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