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The LOBBY7 Story
The Name
As any MIT alum will know, the name LOBBY7 carries special significance. MIT’s Lobby 7 is the infamous location where thousands of bright-eyed MIT first year students find themselves in their first days at MIT. More importantly, Lobby 7 is seen as the cross-roads of raw intelligence, technology expertise, and passion for innovation. Founded by MIT alumni from the Media Lab, AI Lab, Computer Science department and Sloan School, LOBBY7 was formed with the hopes that these ideals would pervade its employees and persevere within the company.
The Birth of Multimodality
Founded in June of 2000 as a wireless services firm, LOBBY7 built a number of high-end wireless solutions for its clients. One of those solutions, a voice-data hybrid interface, quickly captured the attention of a number of market leaders and innovators in the speech technology and wireless communities.
In March of 2001, LOBBY7 held its first public demonstration of what is now called multimodal technology at the CTIA Wireless Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The demonstration, called PocketVegas, integrated speech and clicking input methods with graphical and audio output methods all using the back-drop of the Las Vegas experience as its guide.
PocketVegas and the multimodal technology driving it were exceptionally well received. LOBBY7 and its technology were described in a report of the CTIA event by Salomon Smith Barney as one of the principal highlights of the entire show:
By far the coolest technology we saw at the [CTIA] conference was the multimodal voice/data offering of a small, private company …LOBBY7.
Leveraging sophisticated session and call management software, LOBBY7 has recognized that the best way to request information is by voice, but the best way to receive it is graphically. The ability to recognize the user as a person rather than a device is critical -- and very difficult to do. If they integrate location technology LOBBY7 would probably be a billion-dollar company.
Testing the Multimodal Waters
In July of 2001, LOBBY7 built an application prototype for SpeechWorks and DARPA. The prototype, known as VoiceMap, demonstrated multimodal navigation using MapQuest functionality and was presented at one of the main DARPA Communicator Conferences, in New Orleans. The prototype, one of the first of its kind, demonstrated true multimodal functionality, not simply switching back and forth between WAP and voice channels. Similar to PocketVegas, VoiceMap showcased New Orleans, LA through navigation and feature content. A virtual version of VoiceMap is currently available at LOBBY7’s website.
In October of 2001, LOBBY7 launched version 1.0 of its flagship multimodal technology product, the x|mode Network Server. x|mode Network Server, which powered the original VoiceMap application, allowed for the seamless integration of speech, touch and graphics into a single interface.
x|mode in Action
In December of 2001, Orange deployed the first application prototype using x|mode Network Server 1. 0. The prototype features map navigation, a restaurant reservation system and city guide functionality.
In March of 2002, LOBBY7 released version 2.0 of x|mode Network Server. Version 2.0 features increased functionality, a revised architecture for current and next-generation networks, a more powerful authoring framework and support for Pocket PC 2002.
x|mode is currently deployed in prototype and evaluation phases for a number of other customers internationally. For more information, email info@lobby7.com.
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