International Space Station Crew Set To Test Nuance Speech Recognition

STATION NEWS

Sergei Krikalev- next station resident. NASA hopes to test Clarissa aboard the International Space Station sometime between late April and October 2005.

Menlo Park CA (SPX) Mar 29, 2005
There's a new crewmember aboard the International Space Station who is never at a loss for words. Clarissa is the International Space Station's new speech-powered virtual assistant.

This software eventually may help astronauts check out space suits and analyze drinking water quality - all via voice. In the future, Clarissa has the potential to talk astronauts through thousands of important procedures related to life support systems, medical exams, and equipment checkout.

The experimental Clarissa application was created using speech recognition software from Nuance, the voice automation expert. Clarissa is set to begin working with astronauts during the next six months as part of International Space Station Expedition 11.

"Nuance is thrilled to be an integral part of the NASA-Clarissa project, taking voice automation to new heights - literally," said Chuck Berger, President and CEO, Nuance.

"While voice automation has become a mainstream business imperative for everything from telecommunications providers to banks, Clarissa illustrates the important role speech will play in our daily lives in the very-near future."

Pre-Clarissa, astronauts - when trying to analyze water samples - scrolled through multiple pages of instructions, following each step of the procedure. Considering that computers and crewmembers float in microgravity, securing laptops to the International Space Station's walls and trying to type has proved to be more than challenging.

During a recent validation test on the ground, speech-powered Clarissa, which recognizes words and sentences, led astronaut Ellen Baker through several water quality analysis procedures, listening for "next," "complete" and "repeat" commands before reading the appropriate directive.

NASA hopes to test Clarissa aboard the International Space Station sometime between late April and October 2005.

At Clarissa's core is a state of the art dialogue manager and Nuance's latest market-leading speech recognition software. It's the most accurate, scalable, and easy-to-deploy voice automation software on the market.

The Clarissa system was developed by scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and installed on the International Space Station on January 13, 2005.

In ground tests conducted thus far, Clarissa showed how it could boost crewmember efficiency by allowing astronauts to better focus on the task at hand without having to navigate a PDF guide with a keyboard and mouse.

STATION NEWS

ISS Crew Take A Walk To Fix Antennae, Launch Satellite

Houston TX (SPX) Mar 29, 2005
The residents of the International Space Station completed a 4-hour, 30-minute spacewalk today. The crew installed communications equipment on the exterior of the Zvezda Service Module and deployed a small satellite experiment.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.