UPDATE -- Presentation to Bosch went great!!

[ajayjuneja]

Hey everyone,

so for some strange reason, people on ATOT seem to already know I got into the newspaper for one of my research projects a year ago:

Me in newspaper

(If you didn't see it -- seems like some of you have).

See dialogue manager (Ariadne) demo video here:
.Link to Video -- right click, save as on the "Ariadne demo video" link on this page. Needs DivX codec

Anyhow -- on Tuesday I get to demonstrate the dialogue manager to the head of the Bosch Human-Machine Interface group, Hauke Schmidt (yes, he's German) in Palo Alto!!!

Over the past many months I've been prepping my car to have the dialogue manager inside of it, and well, it's mostly ready. I just tested the system while driving 80mph with the music *very loud* and the system worked nearly perfectly. Go noise cancelation!

Now for the demo, I could:

1. Call him from the parking lot, and tell him, "Let's go for a drive. I'm in a Red Supra."

2. A traditional demo in the office.

Which one should I do?


** Update **

The presentation was great, I ended up making it to their entire Human Machine Interaction group (so it wasn't "Let's go for a drive," oh well), and they asked lots of good questions, and we had some good discussion on some of the issues with dialogue managers and navigation systems. Twas great exposure for me, and helped give me some good perspective about some of the challanges I am having now with regards to making a nice system for navigation systems. And they're all a really nice group!

 

[dman]

I pick the traditional demo with an invite for a 'road test'. Good Luck, hopefully you'll get big $$$.

 

[Ornery]

Sweet! First time I've seen the demo and it seems to really work great!

I'd call his receptionist 15 minutes before your ETA and find out if he's agreeable to meeting you at the door for a test drive. Even if he can't do it at that time, he'll be aware that's what you ultimately have in mind, and prepare for it.

Good luck!

 

[Shantanu]

Those corporate types are all about time = money, even if they masturbate in their offices all day. A walk out to the parking lot could upset him, so have everything ready to go in the office.

 

[T3C]

Originally posted by: Shantanu
Those corporate types are all about time = money, even if they masturbate in their offices all day. A walk out to the parking lot could upset him, so have everything ready to go in the office.

that is ture, meet him first, he might turn out to be a really cool guy, he might ask you if he can see it in person, you just have to meet him first to decide wich way to go

 

[dman]

You contacted any other companies? For example, IBM and Intel may have some interest if Bosch does not. They may also be interested in it for pc use or other applications besides automotive.

Don't sign any papers until you've shopped around.

 

[Toasthead]

this is very cool

 

Contact Delphi and also Visteon if Bosch doesn't want a part of it.

 

[ajayjuneja]

Originally posted by: dman
You contacted any other companies? For example, IBM and Intel may have some interest if Bosch does not. They may also be interested in it for pc use or other applications besides automotive.

Don't sign any papers until you've shopped around.

I used to work for IBM two years ago -- and yes I know ViaVoice is in the Honda Accord -- I had a job offer from them to work on that last summer. IBM's product sucks ass in parsing abilities compared to mine -- trust me -- I was dabbling with this stuff when I left IBM in March 2001, and the new Accord can't compare, either.

I see Bose now has two job openings to accomplish a similar task, perhaps I will contact them soon.

Other Companies:

BMW: Contacted their technology office in Palo Alto in 8 / 2002, they were a tad swamped to take a look at it. Will try them again shortly.

DaimlerChrysler: Contacted a close friend of their CEO who is in the music business, he totally loved it. Unfortunately said friend is the owner of Michael Jackson (M J Net Entertainment A G more specifically) and he's got his hands full with a bit of a PR nightmare right now.

Ford: I wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole. They don't have any decent luxury cars anyhow, and Volvo has a deal with Microsoft.

Microsoft: A senior researcher there, Dr. Eric Horvitz, came up to me after my presentation at ICMI 2002 (International Conference on Multimodal Interfaces) and said "Come work for us. We could use some good dialog people like you!". I'm still in touch with him about this, since I have 1 more year of school left. He's a real nice guy, but Microsoft business practices irk me. They don't even want to consider licensing it, they just want to hire me...

Bosch: With regards to them, the Bosch Research office in Pittsburgh has known me for about two years -- about since the time I started to get something workable. They are the nicest group of people I have ever met at any company ever. They've even come to my demonstrations and presentations on this project. I was a hair away from having an internship offer from them for last summer, but they had a hiring freeze kick in... grrr. Also, it's their Palo Alto office that really focuses on Telematics. The Pittsburgh office is working on sensor-data-fusion and a car that drives itself. I really like that stuff too... but Palo Alto has the people working on exactly what I'm doing. Honestly, arranging this presentation took 2 minutes with a call to the Pittsburgh office. No convincing necessary!

General Motors: Have you seen their interiors lately? Puke! Technically Ariadne was partially funded by GM, but they rejected me for an internship last year cause I wasn't a grad. student yet. And the stupid bean counters there think this is too expensive. Law of computer hardware getting cheaper doesn't occur to them. And I suppose when I last approached them about productizing this, yes, you did need about $2000 in computer hardware to run this. Now? Less than $500.

 

[A5]

Holy sh!t! That's awesome.

 

[ajayjuneja]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Contact Delphi and also Visteon if Bosch doesn't want a part of it.

Delphi, maybe. This thing would put on-star out of business, so they're not likely to embrace it.

Visteon, no way in hell. They make really shoddy stuff, their quality control is the pits -- have you driven a ford lately?

 

[ajayjuneja]

night time bump

 

[ajayjuneja]

** Update **

The presentation was great, I ended up making it to their entire Human Machine Interaction group (so it wasn't "Let's go for a drive," oh well), and they asked lots of good questions, and we had some good discussion on some of the issues with dialogue managers and navigation systems. Twas great exposure for me, and helped give me some good perspective about some of the challanges I am having now with regards to making a nice system for navigation systems. And they're all a really nice group!

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: ajayjuneja
** Update **

The presentation was great, I ended up making it to their entire Human Machine Interaction group (so it wasn't "Let's go for a drive," oh well), and they asked lots of good questions, and we had some good discussion on some of the issues with dialogue managers and navigation systems. Twas great exposure for me, and helped give me some good perspective about some of the challanges I am having now with regards to making a nice system for navigation systems. And they're all a really nice group!

Congrats man!

Hopefully one day I will be talking to BOSCH or Delhpi regarding vehicle control systems!

 

[notfred]

It works pretty good, but you have the worst taste in music, ever. Ace of Bass, Britney Spears, and Marky Mark? heh.

 

[ajayjuneja]

Originally posted by: notfred
It works pretty good, but you have the worst taste in music, ever. Ace of Bass, Britney Spears, and Marky Mark? heh.

Most people like the music in there...

 

[twinrider1]

Hey, we need an update.

(Ok, I was looking for a thread on the Amazon Prime show, Bosch (the pilot was picked up and they're making the show). I found this thread and I'm interested to learn how it turned out).

 

[boomerang]

You expect an update from eleven and a half years ago?

 

[twinrider1]

Ajayjuneja is still active.

 

[waffleironhead]

The company said they hated the idea, sent him on his way, then secretly implemented it without his knowledge.