Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SHERPA-CAR (You will never drive alone)

Teaser

The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ranging from smart cars to smart home appliances, is expecting to grow up to 30.7 billion connected devices by 2020. In this context, VPAs (Virtual Personal Assistants), are becoming the primary interface for interacting with...

Summary

The number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, ranging from smart cars to smart home appliances, is expecting to grow up to 30.7 billion connected devices by 2020. In this context, VPAs (Virtual Personal Assistants), are becoming the primary interface for interacting with these devices, triggering an increasingly popular market
currently dominated by Amazon (Alexa) and Google (Google Home). The potential and the infinite opportunities of this market (IoT and VPAs) makes possible to wish to talk to “things”. Many movies and TV shows have already developed in the citizens the wish to talk with cars (e.g. tv show “knight rider”), so that the car not only answers when the driver asks, but the car has the initiative to start the conversation (proactive), knowing what the driver wants to know (knowing the user’s needs and interests). Nowadays, Infotainment System manufacturers are developing this kind of business opportunities as well as all the trend of Connected Cars.

SHERPA-CAR is able to provide a solution that can be implemented in an infotainment system:
- Collecting and processing drivers and car information (OBD) in order to provide a first class driving experience adding value to actual existing products.
- Using conversational functionalities, natural language and a user-friendly design, SHERPA-CAR will carry out tasks, answer questions, and make recommendations
- It will help users accomplishing their daily tasks more effectively and in a more accurate, personalized and interactive way that the competitors.
SHERPA’s design improves the driver experience thanks to its revolutionary visual format enables to better understand and interact with the information.

The final aim is to reach commercialisation stage, having demonstrated the capability of the market-ready SHERPA-CAR solution to meet and cover the identified business needs, challenges and opportunities.

Work performed

Major progress has been achieved in the optimization of the AI engine. As a result of the developments in this period, we have probabilistic and information theory-based characterizations of users’ preferences in the mentioned areas.
Smart car functionalities are being defined and developed, with results in being able to propose optimal routes; probable times for trips; the probable route to the destination; the average time to make a trip; average speed on the road.
New functionalities have been added, including driver’s destination as a trigger of different information content, and car control functionalities.
Metalingua developments are ongoing as the base for new languages integration. As a result, new language expressions have been added and the improvement continues.
Several contacts have been made with key figures in the automotive and IT industry. Company and project/product presentations have been made to them. As a result of the commercial activities, several agreements have been signed.
Different communication elements have been developed (sales brochures, general videos and specific videos adapted for customers, website). Sherpa has been present in congresses and has performed an intense networking activity. Dissemination and communication tools have been set up and used: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Press releases have been drafted and distributed, with high impact in general and specialized media. As a major result, an agreement has been signed with Tom Gruber (computer scientist creator of Siri) to reinforce Sherpa´s capability to reach key stakeholders. Additionally, awareness of the Sherpa-Car has been increased at national and international levels, in different media.
Big efforts are being devoted to the commercial and marketing tasks to start generating revenues from the Sherpa-Car solution. The work in the commercial and marketing tasks will allow achieving the defined goals in the future.

Final results

The AI engine capabilities, which allow the characterization of users\' preferences mean a major advance beyond the state of the art. No solution exists in the marke which integrates SHERPA-CAR\'s funcionalities to driving conditions.

The socio-economic impact of the project, at this stage where the product is still not being commercialized, is primarly related the jobs creation for the development of SHERPA-CAR. The project has allowed SHERPA to recruit experienced researchers with extensive knowledge on AI and software development.

Strategic agreements being signed and also foreseen in the future, will pave the way for the integration of SHERPA-CAR in vehicles. Apart from the improved quality of life for the driver, thanks to personalized, local diverse and real-time information, SHERPA-CAR will have a significant impact in security: as the operation of SHERPA-CAR is hands-free, no distractions will happen while driving. This will translate into fewer car accidents.

Enrolling key players in the intelligent personal assistants\' arena, such as Tom Gruber, will multiply the impact of the communication and promotion activities.

Website & more info

More info: https://sherpa.ai/.