Apple is dedicated to making the Siri even better. The new AI (Artificial Intelligence) called “Voysis” is now the property of Apple. Apple recently acquired the Irish company Voysis in Dublin, a start-up company focused on improving natural language processing in virtual assistants, Appleinsider reports in external media.
Apple buys AI startup Voysis to make Siri more comprehensive
According to Bloomberg, Voysis has developed a natural language processing platform specializing in the development of speech assistants used in online shopping applications. By better understanding, the customer’s natural speech patterns, the embedded technology can deliver more accurate search results.
Apple confirmed the acquisition in a statement saying that it “acquires smaller technology companies from time to time and we usually do not discuss our intentions or plans.
A now-deleted page reported that Voysis was able to narrow down product search results by referring to retail-related phrases such as “I need a new LED TV” and “My budget is $1000. Effective speech processing allows users to interact more naturally with AI speech assistants, removing barriers such as memorizing key command phrases.
The company’s solution is based on WaveNet technology, which was introduced in 2016 as part of Google’s DeepMind project. WaveNets is described as a “Deep Generation Model of Raw Audio Waveforms” that can be used to create a speech that mimics any human voice, providing a more natural virtual assistant experience. It appears that Voysis uses this method to more accurately sample and translate human voice commands from AI systems.
Prior to the acquisition, Voysis marketed its natural language solutions to companies with retail layouts that wanted to improve the integration of voice assistants on the app or Web page. The company reportedly reduced the memory of its solution to 25 MB, allowing for easy integration with existing AI systems.
In 2018, Voysis raised $8 million in venture capital to further develop and launch a refined product, TechCrunch reported at the time.
“Voysis is a complete voice AI platform,” said Peter Cahill, founder, and CEO of Voysis, in a 2018 interview, “What I mean is that this platform allows companies and businesses to quickly build their own AI that can be accessed by voice or text.”