Flexible Integration of Voice Recognition Components for an Automotive Android Platform: A Design Science Research

Abstract

There are several voice recognition interfaces available on the market capable of being integrated into a variety of platforms. Mobile phones, speakers, and even refrigerators can be equipped with a voice assistant. Having a fully integrated voice assistant in a car has been shown to increase the performance of the driver and reduce distractions. The subcontractor Aptiv aims to provide their Android platform with a voice assistant meant to be sold to car manufacturers, but they aspire to avoid locking their platform to one voice component. This thesis investigates the possibilities of mitigating the difficulties of integrating multiple voice recognition components into one unified framework using a design science research approach over the course of two cycles.Data has been collected through both formal and informal interviews that address the problem at hand. An Ishikawa diagram was constructed to illustrate an overview of the problem space at Aptiv and through evaluation, a new narrowed scope could be determined. The new scope resulted in an investigation of the four voice recognition components Aptiv showed interest in, which were Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Mycroft, and Houndify. This investigation lead to the creation of a tool containing 15 parameters developers can use to compare the functionality of different voice recognition components. The tool was then evaluated by developers at Aptiv through a workshop.The tool together with its illustrations is a helpful start for developers tasked with integrating, either one or several, voice recognition components for an Android system. The presented details of each component are prone to change in the future due to uncertainties regarding their future development. Further investigation of each voice recognition system is necessary in order to fully create the general solution Aptiv aims for. Other companies may benefit from the process that has been used in this thesis when trying to integrate components. The artifact presented in this thesis could be applied to other cases, where multiple components are present and the causes and effects of choosing one or several have implications that need to be considered.