Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant introduced the world to “smart speakers” — products that can listen to us and act on our commands.
But smart products from Apple, Amazon, and Google have trouble understanding us. They also have a habit of abusing our privacy.
That’s why SapientX has created an alternative. This software company has developed accurate, conversational voice-assistant technology. It presents this technology through voice-assistant characters, each powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), that can interact with users as if they were good friends.
SapientX is targeting the market for voice AI, which is projected to reach eighty-six billion dollars by 2032. More specifically, it’s targeting those in the hospitality market who struggle to find workers.
In the post-COVID landscape, this industry struggles with two million unfilled jobs, many of which are consumer-facing, but can be done by a robot or machine — provided it has the right technology.
That’s where SapientX can play a major role. It creates friendly, digital helpers that interact like real people on displays, kiosks, and vending machines.
Need help finding a specific store in a mall? A directory featuring a digital character equipped with SapientX’s software can help you find it. Need directions to your gate at the airport? A digital character can help there, too.
What separates SapientX’s characters from voice assistants like Siri or Alexa is their ability to accurately understand what you’re trying to say or ask. SapientX’s software has conversational understanding accuracy of ninety-nine percent, compared to just seventy-three percent for Alexa.
Furthermore, digital characters featuring SapientX technology always respect your privacy and SapientX never sells user data.
Another big strength of this company is its team. Co-Founder Bruce Wilcox has forty years of experience in AI engineering and is a world-renowned natural-language processing expert. He’s won the prestigious Loebner Prize four times, part of an annual competition in AI for the computer program considered to be the most “human-like.”
Additionally, co-founder Maclen Marvit is a former rocket scientist who began his career as a software engineer with NASA. He also worked for ten years with Blue Origin, the space company created by Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos.
SapientX’s voice assistants speak ninety-five languages and dialects. And the software runs on almost everything using as little as two percent of a computer-processing unit.
In 2008, SapientX incorporated its technology into navigation systems for BMW, Magellan, and Nvidia. Soon after, it created a voice-assistant prototype for the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV.
In 2022, the company created a prototype of an airport guide to give directions, flight info, and restaurant advice inside the Edmonton International Airport. Since then, it’s created voice-assistant characters at gaming trade shows and healthcare centers.
Most recently, SapientX created “Cassie,” a digital receptionist who has since been deployed to twenty healthcare clinics serving 43,000 patients.
To make money, SapientX adapts its business model to specific customers. For example, with kiosks and vending machines, the company creates monthly software-as-a-service contracts. Other companies want pricing per unit with yearly maintenance and support contracts.
SapientX has twenty-two partnerships including companies that make kiosks, computers, and the microphones needed to make complete, turn-key solutions for customers.