Tokyo-based Internet ad agency Traffic Gate[J] and U.K.- and Silicon Valley-based speech recognition technology developer Novauris Technology jointly released an iPhone/iPod touch app allowing you to find the best route on Tokyo’s public transit using your voice, which is named “Koe-Tan” and available for free at AppStore. If you are holding with bags and an umbrella so that you can’t use the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard, now you can easily find the best route(s) to your destination by just saying something like “Shinjuku kara Roppongi made”. (“kara” and “made” are Japanese particles standing for from/to.)
Novauris Technology was founded in 2002 by the scientists who previously developed the well-known voice search software Dragon Search. The company’s voice search technology supports American English, British English, Korean and Japanese, and it’s also used for Verizon Wireless‘ mobile search application “Get It Now Search“.
Traffic Gate’s ad module for iPhone/iPod touch is embedded in the new app, and the two companies have agreed to share the revenues earned from the banner ads which appeared on the search results.
(Proofread by: Sean O’Hagan)
Masaru IKEDA