NEW DELHI and BURLINGTON, Mass., April 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) and MG Motor, a SAIC company, today announced that they have partnered to bring Nuance’s conversational AI-powered mobility assistant to MG cars worldwide, starting with MG Hector, India’s first internet-enabled car. Hector will feature MG Motor’s new iSMART Next Gen connected mobility platform, which leverages Nuance technology to enable drivers to control and interact with the entire in-car system using just their voice.Activated with “Hello MG” rather than the push of a button, MG Hector’s Voice Assist feature was specifically designed by Nuance for the India market to recognize Indian-accented speech. Leveraging Nuance’s state-of-the-art conversational AI and machine learning, iSMART Next Gen in the MG Hector understands and continuously learns the needs and preferences of drivers and passengers over time to provide an increasingly personalized and connected experience. The assistant is deeply integrated with the car itself and enables more than 100 voice-activated commands, including opening and closing of the windows and sun roof, AC control, navigation, etc. Natural language understanding and generation allow drivers to interact with MG Hector naturally, just as they would with another person, to ask questions and complete commands, while speech signal enhancement removes noise from the microphone input to clearly identify who in the car is speaking and deliver personalized content and results to queries.Beyond the voice-activated features, MG Hector drivers also benefit from Nuance’s hybrid approach, which combines embedded and cloud-based content and services to deliver a fast, seamless experience – even in areas of poor connectivity. Furthermore, iSMART Next Gen offers seamless connectivity for real-time, over-the-air software updates to all MG cars, starting first with MG Hector. This means the Voice Assist feature can be continuously updated with new words or phrases, changing language, and new content, ensuring that the system is always offering state-of-the-art capabilities.“The MG Hector is the first of its kind in India and will be one of the leaders in a new era of connected cars across the globe,” said Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India. “As we work to build a seamless, future-forward experience for MG drivers and passengers, an AI-powered, voice-enabled assistant solution is critical. With their expertise in AI-powered voice solutions, we are proud to have Nuance as our strategic partner.”“Automakers in the Asia-Pacific region are having a major impact on the automotive innovation roadmap worldwide, and the MG Hector is no exception,” said Stefan Ortmanns, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Automotive. “We’re excited that MG India values the role of voice in the future of the user experience in the car and are proud to bring our expertise in developing and deploying solutions that keep all of the local specifications and needs at the forefront. We look forward to bringing this superior user experience to drivers in India and worldwide.”For more information about MG’s upcoming internet cars, visit: https://www.mgmotor.co.in/media-center/newsroom/mg-motor-showcases-futuristic-car-technology. Nuance Automotive powers more than 250 million cars on the road today across more than 40 languages, creating conversational, intelligent mobility experiences for nearly every major automaker in the world. To learn more about the ways in which Nuance Automotive is amplifying the intelligence of the connected car, visit nuance.com and stay connected on LinkedIn.About Nuance Communications, Inc.Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the pioneer and leader in conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand, analyze and respond to human language to increase productivity and amplify human intelligence. With decades of domain and artificial intelligence expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations – in global industries that include healthcare, telecommunications, automotive, financial services, and retail – to create stronger relationships and better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.
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