XPENG Integrates Text-to-Speech Service From Microsoft in P7 Smart Sedan
January 05 2022 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
XPENG has upgraded its auto-grade voice assistant using
Microsoft custom neural voice capability, based on Neural
Text-to-Speech (TTS), a feature of Azure AI.
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XPENG P7 smart cockpit (Photo: Business
Wire)
XPENG installed the new voice assistant functionality via a
major over-the-air (OTA) upgrade for its P7 smart sedan customers
in China.
Microsoft research breakthroughs in speech, natural language and
machine translation have helped significantly advance the fluency,
quality, fidelity and naturalness of voice assistant technology
over the past several years. These innovations have been integrated
into commercially-available speech and language capabilities within
Azure Cognitive Services and other Microsoft products, so that
companies like XPENG can bring richer, more engaging experiences to
their customers.
XPENG worked with Microsoft to overcome several key challenges
to create the new cutting-edge voice assistant integration. To deal
with telecommunication network jitter while the car is moving,
while reducing data traffic consumption and hardware burden, and
ensuring continuous high-quality speech, XPENG introduced
context-specific multi-level caches, caching high-quality sound in
advance and distributing it to minimize reliance on the network. To
deliver natural-sounding high-fidelity speech, XPENG uses Microsoft
Azure with caching and compression to deliver XPENG’s high-quality
voice sampling rate of 24K Hz and quantization level of 16 bits,
without overburdening the data network or the car’s own CPU. XPENG
also worked with Microsoft to minimize ambiguity and to optimize
accuracy in voice assistant speech.
As a result, the new voice assistant function has achieved new
levels of lifelike voice fidelity, functionality, and
scenario-specific applicability. With these new capabilities, XPENG
can deploy voice assistance in even more usage scenarios, making
voice assistance an integral part of the intuitive driving
experience.
"This is a cutting-edge exploration of vehicle voice interaction
in the auto industry," said Hao Chao, a Senior Expert with XPENG
Automotive AI Products. “It required months of dedicated work by
our team to overcome the challenges, and now delivers a whole new
level of natural speech. With a deep understanding of urban
mobility, we are finding many more scenarios to leverage AI
technology for a high level of driver-machine intuition.”
“With advancements in research and technology, Azure Cognitive
Services like vision and speech, will play a pivotal role in
defining unique in-vehicle experiences,” said Sanjay Ravi, General
Manager, Automotive, Mobility, and Transportation Industry at
Microsoft. “With speech as a primary interaction tool within the
vehicle, Microsoft’s custom neural voice services enable automakers
to develop their own differentiated and authentic branded
experiences.”
XPENG has already rolled out the new voice assistant technology
to P7 customers across China via OTA upgrades. In due course the
company plans to introduce future generations of the upgraded voice
assistant into other production models.
About XPENG
XPENG is a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company that
designs, develops, manufactures, and markets Smart EVs that appeal
to the large and growing base of technology-savvy middle-class
consumers in China. Its mission is to drive Smart EV transformation
with technology and data, shaping the mobility experience of the
future. In order to optimize its customers’ mobility experience,
XPENG develops in-house its full-stack autonomous driving
technology and in-car intelligent operating system, as well as core
vehicle systems including powertrain and the
electrification/electronic architecture. XPENG is headquartered in
Guangzhou, China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Silicon
Valley, and San Diego. The Company’s Smart EVs are manufactured at
plants in Zhaoqing and Zhengzhou, located in Guangdong and Henan
provinces, respectively. For more information, please visit
https://en.xiaopeng.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220105005732/en/
For Media Enquiries: Marie Cheung +852-9750-5170 or
+86-1550-7577-546 mariecheung@xiaopeng.com
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