According to both companies, this a significant advancement in automotive embedded voice experiences, with a highly integrated hardware-software solution that will help automakers accelerate deployment of customized voice solutions for digital cockpits. The solution allows car manufacturers to test-drive Alexa Custom Assistant as a solution demo in a production vehicle, enabling natural dialogue between driver and vehicle.
The hardware-software integration of Alexa Custom Assistant into a production vehicle is significant as automakers will gain better insights into the solution‘s in-vehicle value proposition and enabling the discovery of novel use cases.
"The automotive cockpit is changing. With the addition of more displays, cameras, sensors and advanced features, it is becoming increasingly complex. Additionally, boundaries between life in and outside the vehicle continue to blur, with consumers expecting a seamless technology experience no matter where they are,” explains Jens Brandt, head of Human Machine Interface, Continental North America. “Holistic interaction concepts for such complex systems are key, and the best user experience is becoming the ultimate differentiator for any automaker. Working together with Amazon, we enable automakers to create world-class customized voice AI experiences that maximize resources and enhance the customer experience.”
With Alexa Custom Assistant, all sorts of custom experiences can be programmed into the vehicle, enabling a natural dialogue between the driver, custom assistant, and Alexa to fulfill the driver’s request. Alexa’s advanced AI ensures each request is routed to the assistant that can provide the most relevant and delightful experience. For example, if a user asks Alexa to roll down a car window, or why their check engine light is on, the request will be seamlessly routed to the brand’s assistant. If a user asks the brand’s assistant to play an audio book, the request will be routed to Alexa. Automakers can even customize their brand’s assistant with a unique wake word, voice and capabilities – providing customers the benefits of an intelligent assistant that is their product and services expert, while seamlessly coexisting and cooperating with Alexa.
“Advances in AI are making voice experiences in the car more natural, conversational and user-friendly, and we want to make this innovation accessible to any automaker,” says Ned Curic, vice president of Alexa Auto. “Our collaboration with Continental and EB gives the industry a highly integrated and scalable solution for adding customizable in-vehicle experiences to cockpit systems while reducing the burden of building and maintaining the core capabilities of an intelligent assistant – enabling automakers to focus their time and resources on creating other unique features that delight their customers.”
Continental and Elektrobit’s in-vehicle integration of Alexa Custom Assistant will be demonstrated at Alexa Live, Amazon’s virtual education event for the Alexa developer community. Developers are invited to join the session live at 10:15 am PT on July 21, by registering here: www.amazon.com/alexalive.
Elektrobit, a wholly-owned, independently operated subsidiary of Continental headquartered in Germany, has a multi-year relationship with Amazon as one of the first and a leading integrator of Alexa in vehicles. A software expert with more than 30 years serving the industry, the German company previously showcased cockpit software integration with Amazon at both CES 2019 and CES 2020.
“It’s exciting for Elektrobit and Continental to pave the way, making it easier for OEMs to add cutting-edge features to their vehicles,” says Christian Reinhard, executive vice president, Elektrobit. “This first-of-its-kind integration of Alexa Custom Assistant is the logical progression of EB’s groundbreaking work with Amazon.”
www.continental.com
www.elektrobit.com
