28.02.2018

Use your Voice: The Cooperative Alternative

The German research project “KoFFI” uses EML language technology for partially automated automobile driving. Best practice examples for the use of EML speech technology (part 3) – booth and live demos at the CCW fair in Berlin, February 27- March 1, 2018

Autonomous driving is currently considered the cornerstone of the transportation of tomorrow. Driving without a driver, however, poses major technical, legal, and ethical challenges for automobile manufacturers. The joint project "Cooperative Driver-Vehicle Interaction" (KoFFI) presents an alternative approach: It deals with semi-automated driving – that is, with situations in which it is still generally possible for the driver to intervene. "In this project, we also consider the important ethical, legal, and social issues," Project Coordinator Dr. Rainer Erbach (Robert Bosch GmbH) explains. "These issues are then taken into account in the design and development of the prototypes."

KoFFI: a joint project of research and industry partners (image. Robert Bosch GmbH)

The project partners come from the fields of industry and university research. In addition to Robert Bosch GmbH (Car Multimedia), Daimler AG (Research and Advanced Engineering), and EML European Media Laboratory GmbH, other involved parties include the University of Ulm, Heilbronn University, and the Institute of Digital Ethics at Stuttgart Media University. The "KoFFI" project runs for a period of three years (until June 2019) and was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). It combines speech recognition, natural language processing, and a speech dialog system with graphic interfaces designed to meet the special requirements of semi-automated driving.

The EML provides the required speech recognition methods that are used in the project for the local- and server-based conversion of speech to text. "We develop language components for the KoFFI speech dialog system and adapt it to fit the required context," EML Manager Research Dr. Volker Fischer explains. Just like all other components of the KoFFI system, the language technology components are also evaluated and optimized via user studies because one of the project's goals is to increase people's trust in the technology they need to rely on in case of an emergency.

EML European Media Laboratory GmbH will present their speech technology from February 27- March 1, 2018, at the CCW in Berlin, the international conference and trade show for customer communications services. The EML stand is located in Hall 2, C19.