Sensory debuts AI-enabled voice assistants for foodservice, retail kiosks

Sensory Inc., an artificial intelligence provider in Silicon Valley, is debuting the alpha release of its Domain Isolated Virtual Assistant, known as DIVA, a cloud-based platform that provides voice assistants that combine biometrics, computer vision and customer analytics, according to a press release.

The initial release has been customized to serve the fast-casual, quick service restaurant industry and is capable of processing voice orders in mobile apps, kiosks and drive-thru scenarios.

«We believe the next wave of interactive consumer experiences will be driven by companies that want to own and control their branded voice experience for use in specific contexts or domains,» Todd Mozer, CEO at Sensory, said in the release. «These businesses may want to know more about their customer's usage and not only understand what they are saying, but who they are and how their experience is going.»

Sensory's AI assistant is not intended to competes with Alexa, Cortana or Google Assistant, but to handle specific functions with greater accuracy while being easier to use. The AI assistant affords companies the ability to add or remove certain AI modules or capabilities to create new customer experiences or add on to an existing application.

«We evaluated the customer journey and built a solution that combines the technologies needed to provide a seamless conversational experience and powerful analytics,» added Mozer.

Each AI assistant conversation starts with a custom branded wake word which is designed to invoke the brand. This is accomplished with Sensory's wake word engine. Once the conversation is started, the customer then has a conversational interaction with Sensory's speech recognition and natural language engine.

As the conversation progresses, Sensory applies AI to analyze the customer's voice data for demographic information and emotional state. This allows companies to provide personalized recommendations based on customer metrics.

The AI assistant can identify repeat customers and offer personalized suggestions based on their purchase history.

Source: Kiosk Marketplace