OTTO

Next Generation Hands-free for Everything We Do Today on a Smartphone!

Always Listening

No buttons to press & always available

Manage Communication

Handle calls & incoming/outgoing texts with ease

Safer

Hands-free & eyes-free operation

Intuitive

Human focussed, not technology centric

Customisable

Create your own personal driving assistant

Dedicated

Purpose built just for driving

Today’s Smartphones are an amazing piece of technology. They enable us to stay in touch, keep informed and be entertained almost anywhere, any time. But that freedom comes with a responsibility, especially when driving!

Although it is illegal to text and drive in many parts of the world, people continue to do it, not only breaking the law, but endangering their lives and those of others.

Some people think they are capable enough drivers to simultaneously read a text message and pay attention to the road. Others reply to a text when stopped at the traffic lights and justify this as safe.

Would you get on a plane if you were told just before boarding that due to some issues it had a 10x greater chance of crashing than the next flight leaving in 1 hour?

The fact is that texting while driving makes you 23x more likely to crash!

So what’s the solution?

Obviously there is no need for a solution if there is no problem so if drivers simply ignored texts and other functions on their phone, this is the best option.

However, according to a recent survey undertaken by AT&T, despite 98% of us agreeing that texting while driving is dangerous, 74% continue to do so.

Our philosophy is simple! If people are going to do it anyway and endanger lives, let’s find a way to enable them to do it safer in order to reduce the distraction element.

The solution must remove the need to look at or touch a phone in order to be truly distraction reducing as well as not being cognitively taxing.
Voice recognition when executed well, achieves all of these.

So what’s the evidence to suggest that voice recognition is the solution?

There have been many studies undertaken over the years in an effort to determine what are the most and least distracting activities whilst driving.
There have been laboratory studies, simulator studies and even closed circuit studies however we believe the only way to truly understand the effects on drivers is out in the real world.

In a landmark study undertaken by Virginia Tech, 100 cars were fitted out with cameras and sensors and monitored for a year. At the end of the study and after 3.2 million kilometres of driving, the results were conclusive.

Speech was significantly less distracting than dialling or reaching out for a device. And this gap was even greater amongst younger drivers.

So if voice is the solution, why OTTO?

We created OTTO as an intuitive way for drivers to manage phone calls and text messages. OTTO is an always listening mobile application that allows a driver to interact with their phone without taking hands off the wheel or eyes off the road.

OTTO has been built from the ground up just for driving so whilst it can’t tell you the current time in New York or the Capital of Mongolia, it does a great job of communicating your messages to you.

OTTO is focussed on solving human problems, not just finding something to do with a technology solution.

OTTO is your personal driving assistant.

SIRI vs GOOGLE vs OTTO

OTTO is a voice controlled application for your mobile. Whenever we describe OTTO, we are commonly asked “doesn’t SIRI do that on my iPhone” or “Google can do that on my Android phone.”

But not all voice controlled assistants are created equal!

Nobody would argue that SIRI and Google are amazing pieces of technology. You can find out almost anything about anything. But when it comes to driving, they are not built specifically for this purpose.

This video illustrates some of the differences between OTTO and the major competing platforms.

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BETA Tester Comments

So far I'm loving this! Easy to implement, easy to use. It actually understands my voice, and that's a difficult one, apparently. I haven't had much luck with other apps in trying to get them to understand what I'm asking for. Otto knows.

Fran

Wow! Easy to install. Very intuitive to use. I would use this on a regular basis and recommend to all my friends!! The voice recognition is wonderful picks up what I said the first time. I love that you are able to switch the name of and gender of the voice. I used it on my way to work this morning and was so much easier making my call.

Nell

I enjoyed the set up and use of OTTO very much. It’s easier and more practical to use as a hand-free system than the Garmin nuvi 42 GPS that I’m replacing in my current vehicle. I intend to use this on a regular basis and have already recommended OTTO to my friends.

Rachel

I have high standards for voice recognition software because of my thick North Carolinian accent. As long as I enunciate naturally, I have no problems with my words being recognized. I was pleasantly surprised when naming my device went off without a hitch. When I say the device’s name, the device answers back without missing a beat.

Rachel

About Us

OTTO is the offspring of Australian company Gizmosis, which has been researching the “intelligent car” space since 2007.

Gizmosis was founded by Alex Kain, a tech entrepreneur with several other businesses in the IT space.

What initially began as a dream to recapture the innovation of the TV show Knight Rider, quickly turned into a desire to make a difference in the lives of those who text and drive.

With distracted driving being a global epidemic, OTTO is the fruit of years of development into a realistic solution to the problem.

Privacy

Although it is illegal to text and drive in many parts of the world, people continue to do it, not only breaking the law, but endangering their lives and those of others.

Some people think they are capable enough drivers to simultaneously read a text message and pay attention to the road. Others reply to a text when stopped at the traffic lights and justify this as safe.

Would you get on a plane if you were told just before boarding that due to some issues it had a 10x greater chance of crashing than the next flight leaving in 1 hour?

The fact is that texting while driving makes you 23x more likely to crash!

So what’s the solution?

Otto