Acapela Phonemes Chosen for NAVTEQ Voice™

In 2006, Acapela Group will provide almost 1 million phonemes in 21 languages to enhance the intelligibility and vocal restitution of street, place and destination names. NAVTEQ Voice™ already includes more than 3.3 million phonemes and is available to more than three hundred million people in Western Europe. Next generation navigation systems are now widely using speech technologies to transmit clearer commands to drivers beyond the recorded prompts of the past. Systems with text to speech capability allow written information to be read in real time, such as the names of towns, streets and sign text in the future. Speech synthesis can be used to point out places of interest, like retail locations and tourist sites, on the way. Speech synthesis allows drivers to get directions in an intuitive way, while keeping their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. NAVTEQ voice phonemes are already used in new generation navigation systems for automatic speech recognition (ASR), allowing drivers to communicate verbally with their system.

A technological achievement : giving voice to local linguistic specificities with Acapela's speech synthesis.

Acapela and NAVTEQ have combined their expertise to efficiently use speech synthesis and adapt this to the specific requirements of the map data environment which requires a clear and natural-sounding synthesized voice.

The goal for both NAVTEQ and Acapela is to provide localized phonetic entries that match the geographic context of navigation with correct pronunciation and accentuation. "We are pleased to continue our relationship with Acapela and offer their high quality phonemes." adds George Filley, Vice President, Product Management of NAVTEQ.

“We are very proud and excited to continue to support a player such as NAVTEQ with Acapela's linguistic skills and expertise providing an outstanding result to voice empowered high end navigation services” stated Vincent Fontaine, CEO of Acapela.

About NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ is a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, and government and business solutions. NAVTEQ creates the digital maps and map content that power navigation and location-based services solutions around the world. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 2,000 employees located in 139 offices in 25 countries.