AT&T Labs Research

Haptic steering wheel and other cloud-based services showcased by AT&T researchers

by: Staff, May 1, 2012

The recent Living the Networked Life showcase was a chance for AT&T researchers to demo new projects: a bio-acoustic door lock, a car system that alerts when you forget an item, Air Graffiti for air-tagging locations with art, photos, sounds, or other information. What's the connection?

All are cloud-based services designed to make life easier, and all experiment with innovative interfaces. As one example, a steering wheel uses haptics to convey navigation information more seamlessly and with less distraction than audio or visual cues. Read more.

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Mihai Pătraşcu is a recipient of Presburger Award

Mihai Pătraşcu is a joint recipient of the EATCS 2012 Presburger Award, which acknowleges the contributions of young scientists in theoretical computer science.

The problems studied by Pătraşcu involve efficient data structures and understanding how computers can most efficiently represent and manipulate data. His contributions to fundamental results on lower bounds for data structures revolutionized and revitalized a field that was silent for over a decade.

Developers: Tap into AT&T's speech expertise

Speech interfaces are becoming de rigueur for mobile apps. Users find them easy, but implementing these interfaces is not easy. Speech technologies are complex and require expert knowledge.

AT&T should know. The AT&T WATSON^SM speech engine—known for accuracy and speed—represents decades of research. In June, AT&T will make this technology available in API form. If interested now, send an email to

A service that won’t let you forget

Ever drive off without your wallet, laptop, or other needed item? Got My Stuff, a new, car-based project from AT&T Research may fix that problem. It works like this.

When you turn your car key, Got My Stuff checks to make sure you don't forget items you need for your destination. But why limit such a useful service to the car? Got My Stuff may soon move to the home, the workplace, and other locations where it’s possible to forget something.

Use your own voice to create a synthesized one

Synthesized voices often sound generic, and creating new ones isn't easy since it usually requires commercial equipment.

AT&T’s VoiceBuilder solves both problems. It lets you use your voice and requires only a good-quality microphone.

To create a voice for real-time applications, log in to the AT&T Speech Mashup site, open VoiceBuilder from Test Application, then follow the directions to record your voice or upload audio.

App turns your smart phone into a translation device

The free AT&T Translator app turns a smart phone into a speech translation device. Talk into your iPhone (or iPad or iPod) or Android smart phone, and the app translates and then speaks your words in one of seven languages, just like in the ad.

The speech translation technology was created at AT&T Research and incorporates AT&T WATSON^SM and AT&T Natural Voices^®.

AT&T Translator is available from iTunes and from Google Play.

Texting while driving: what can happen?

What can happen in the five seconds it normally takes a driver to look away from the road to text? Probably more than you think.

So that drivers can experience, in a virtual way, the dangers of texting while driving, AT&T created a text-and-drive simulator. In this Spanish-language video, AT&T Researchers Maria Fernandez and Valerie Torres describe how the simulator works. (For an English-language video about the simulator, go here).