LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is supporting Faurecia and Parrot Automotive to integrate Amazon Alexa voice technology within the cockpit and entertainment system of connected vehicles.
Created as a technology demonstrator for CES 2018, the system integrates two Alexa agents directly within Parrot’s latest NIS 8300 automotive entertainment system. Audio beamforming technology is used to separately identify the vehicle’s driver and passenger to route voice commands to the appropriate Alexa service.
The Alexa services are integrated with the user’s home and personal technologies, and use Parrot “skills” to control elements of the Faurecia cockpit through voice control. This includes adjusting seat positions, launching a seat massage, changing climate settings or uploading video and music playlists. The agent can convert a range of local environmental information into services such as providing details of surrounding point of interests or weather warnings. The integration with home and personal technologies allows the passengers or driver to check and update ‘to-do’ and shopping lists while in the vehicle, or prepare the vehicle by setting climate control levels from the home.
Working from Faurecia’s concept, based on different scenarios, Accenture was able to integrate the technologies required to build the pilot. Accenture supported Faurecia and Parrot Automotive in the design, build and run of the on-board Amazon Alexa and for the cloud services connecting the cockpit to Amazon Alexa. Accenture also helped design the personalized user experience, focusing on enabling a seamless approach across various locations including home, car and office, as well as helping to enable an experience where each passenger can use its own voice service.
“Faurecia keeps on innovating through digital and is following what we call the Industry X.0 innovation model to stay ahead of the pack. Companies that do so are able to fundamentally redesign customer experiences through personalization and advances in new and emerging technologies, like Alexa and other AI based Human Machine Interactions systems,” said Maxence Tilliette, managing director, Accenture. “Faurecia and Parrot are demonstrating how they continue to innovate, showing how business models and revenue streams can be unlocked by smart, connected products and services, enabled by new ecosystems.”
Industry X.0 is how Accenture defines the digital reinvention of industry, when businesses use advanced digital technologies to transform their core operations, their worker and customer experiences and ultimately their business models. New levels of efficiency are achieved in the core of R&D, engineering, production, manufacturing and business support through integrated systems, processes, sensors and new intelligence. For industrial manufacturers like Faurecia, Industry X.0 usually starts with digitizing and enhancing existing products to enable new service offerings.
This demonstrator is the first materialization of the Faurecia and Accenture partnership in digital innovation, as announced on January 5th, 2018. The demonstrator will be showcasing at Faurecia’s 2018 CES booth, in Las Vegas Convention Center Central Plaza CP3.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 435,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.