ARMONK, N.Y. and NORTHRIDGE, Calif., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — HARMAN Professional Solutions and IBM (NYSE: IBM) Watson Internet of Things (IoT) as we speak unveiled Voice-Enabled Cognitive Rooms. Using IBM’s Watson synthetic intelligence (AI) expertise and HARMAN AKG microphones, JBL audio system and AMX AV management and switching methods, the businesses deliver extremely related experiences to medical services, company workplaces, accommodations, cruise ships and different hospitality environments.
View photographs
In addition to the present in-market options, HARMAN is a component of IBM’s cognitive collaboratories primarily based in its $200 million Watson IoT international headquarters in Munich. In this facility as we speak, HARMAN is demonstrating the capabilities of its in-room cognitive concierge in a convention room setting. At the identical time the HARMAN group can be working with IBM designers, researchers and others to place IoT into the palms of enterprise prospects.
Today IBM’s cognitive applied sciences are embedded into HARMAN soundbars and alarm clocks with different type elements being developed, that customers can work together with utilizing pure language. Now shoppers can merely ask questions or difficulty instructions with their voice when in a room. These requests are then despatched to the Watson cloud and Watson IoT providers, which work with HARMAN’S expertise to permit individuals to simply management their in-room subsystems with out having to bodily carry out any guide duties and making an attempt to determine the brand new methods out. For instance, now when an worker enters a convention room they’ll begin a video convention, launch a presentation and extra utilizing their voice. In the longer term, these duties shall be executed routinely primarily based on what the system has discovered concerning the worker primarily based on earlier conferences. The system will get smarter concerning the particular person and their preferences over time.
These capabilities, that are on show at IBM’s Munich workplace, are being utilized by prospects as we speak in together with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital the place sufferers can work together with in-room audio system that are related to the IBM Watson IoT Platform. As a outcome, they’ll improve their hospital expertise by working lights and window blinds with none guide help whereas asking questions concerning the hospital services or requesting background info on their doctor all through pure language.
“We’re solving a very distinct problem in hotel, hospital and conference rooms, where people experience unfamiliar environments yet need to perform very simple tasks, such as changing room temperature, adjusting the lighting, opening the blinds, initiating conference calls or launching a presentation,” stated Kevin Morrison, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Solutions for HARMAN Professional Solutions. “Voice-Enabled Cognitive Rooms by HARMAN make for a natural and intuitive experience, especially for weary travelers or patients with special needs.”
These voice-enabled cognitive rooms additionally operate as an in-room concierge that can reply common questions or site-specific questions developed by the ability and that includes customized solutions created by workers. For instance, a resort visitor might ask “What time is checkout? “or “Where is the gym?” whereas a hospital affected person might ask “What are the hospital’s visiting hours?” or “Can you tell me more about my doctor?” Leveraging HARMAN’s experience in API integration, customers may even make use of Watson for service requests, together with amenity replenishments, restaurant reservations, late checkout, room service, shuttle service and extra.
“The enterprise and entertainment market possibilities are massive, as IBM and HARMAN seek to connect people more intimately with their environments through cognition and natural language processing,” stated Harriet Green, General Manager, Watson Internet of Things, Customer Engagement and Education, IBM. “The result of this collaboration is simple, we are leveraging Watson and AI to bring connected environments to a multitude of locations, from hotels to hospitals and offices where they are transforming every day experiences. We look forward to continuing our work with HARMAN by developing new IoT-powered innovations.”
Leveraging key Watson APIs comparable to Natural Language Understanding and Speech to Text, these rooms additionally present customers with restricted mobility and imaginative and prescient impairment a better degree of interplay with their atmosphere. Now with Watson, friends can converse naturally to the system with out inflexible syntax necessities, utilizing easy instructions like “would you turn off the lights?”
Voice-Enabled Cognitive Rooms additionally characteristic enterprise-grade software program instruments that may help in-house technical and visitor service workers members enhance operational effectivity. For instance, housekeeping workers can merely say, “Send up an engineer to fix the shower” of their native language. Watson’s multilingual capabilities allow organizations to accommodate all kinds of customers from completely different nations with an ever-growing listing of supported languages.
Like different options available on the market, the system is activated by a “wake word.” However, in contrast to different gadgets, the wake phrase for Voice-Enabled Cognitive Rooms by HARMAN is totally customizable. This permits companies a further alternative to model their expertise. In addition to JBL audio system, the system contains AMX NX-1200 Integrated Controller, the AMX Massio&commerce;MCP-106 6-Button ControlPad and the AMX Metreauۓ-Button Ethernet Keypad.
Availability
Voice-Enabled Cognitive Rooms by HARMAN for enterprise functions shall be out there in mid-2017.
About HARMAN
HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers related merchandise and options for automakers, shoppers, and enterprises worldwide, together with related automotive methods, audio and visible merchandise, enterprise automation options; and providers supporting the Internet of Things. With main manufacturers together with AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the leisure venues the place they carry out world wide. More than 25 million cars on the street as we speak are geared up with HARMAN audio and related automotive methods. Our software program providers energy billions of cellular gadgets and methods that are related, built-in and safe throughout all platforms, from work and dwelling to automotive and cellular. HARMAN has a workforce of roughly 30,000 individuals throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN grew to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
About IBM Watson IoT
IBM is a longtime chief within the Internet of Things with greater than 6,000 consumer engagements in 170 nations, a rising ecosystem of over 1,400 companions and extra 750 IoT patents which collectively assist to attract actionable perception from billions of related gadgets, sensors and methods world wide. For extra info on IBM Watson IoT, please go to www.ibm.com/iot.
Doug Fraim
IBM Media Relations
[email protected]
617-501-6376
David Glaubke
Director, Public Relations
HARMAN Professional Solutions
+1 (818) 895-3464 O
+1 (818) 470-7322 M
View photographs
To view the unique model on PR Newswire, go to:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harman-and-ibm-watson-internet-of-things-introduce-cognitive-rooms-that-bring-connected-experiences-to-the-consumer-300441558.html
