The World's First Personal Assistant that Beams Sound only to You.

A truly "personal" personal assistant device enabled by Audio Spotlight directional sound technology

Audio Spotlight® by Holosonics is pleased to announce it has partnered with XMOS to conceptualize a design for the world’s first voice-activated personal assistant device that listens to where you are - and then speaks only to you. By combining XMOS VocalSorcery microphone hardware with Holosonics' patented directional speaker technology, the concept for the first and only truly “personal” personal assistant has emerged.

Among the limitations of personal assistant technology currently available in the marketplace is the lack of privacy that devices like Alexa, Echo, and Siri provide to users. When these devices produce audio replies to the user, there is no privacy to the conversation as the sound can be heard by anyone in range of the device’s traditional speaker.

But now, Holosonics and XMOS have developed the technology to customize a personal assistant’s response by pointing an audio reply directly at the person in a room who queried the device. By combining Holosonics’ revolutionary directional audio technology with XMOS’ highly directional microphone, personal assistant devices of the future could have the ability to pinpoint the exact direction of an audio reply within a given space to provide a user with all of the sound and none of the noise.™ Audio Spotlight’s revolutionary audio technology creates sound in a narrow laser-like beam, just like light. From museums, exhibits, and digital signage to retail stores and special projects, hundreds of companies have chosen this patented technology to provide high-quality, precisely controlled sound.

“The Holosonics team is thrilled about the partnership we forged with XMOS to bring together XMOS spatial audio capture expertise with Audio Spotlight® directional sound to create what we believe is the next level in personal assistant device technology,” said Holosonics Founder and CEO Dr. F. Joseph Pompei. “By incorporating the option of focused sound into the existing available features of a personal assistant, we find ourselves in the very exciting position of creating the next chapter in the evolution of assistive voice-activated devices.”

Mark Lippett, XMOS CEO commented: "This is a hugely exciting collaboration. Holosonics technology could transform the way we interact with personal assistants in future. They’ve created a more private experience, which is immediately compelling and opens up a new world of possibilities."

Dr. Pompei and his team will demo the world’s first truly “personal” personal assistant at the XMOS suite during the Consumer Technology Association’s CES 2019 conference in Las Vegas on January 8-11, 2019.

To schedule an appointment to view a demo at CES 2019, call us at +1 617-923-4000

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