KT connects voice-recognizing assistant system to IPTV

By Yoon Sung-won

KT launched a voice-recognizing artificial intelligence (AI) assistant system named “GiGA Genie” on the Korean market, Tuesday.

Compared to other voice-recognizing AI devices such as Amazon’s Echo series, Google Home and SK Telecom’s NUGU, the nation’s largest fixed-line operator stressed that GiGA Genie includes an internet protocol television (IPTV) set-top box to provide AI assistance service not only through voice information but also visual experience.

“Despite the adoption of multiple smart devices, a TV is still at the center of the living room in many households,” KT’s mass general business division President Lim Heon-moon said during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday.

Lim said the company will tap into its solid dominance in the pay broadcasting service market here to boost penetration of its home AI assistant service.

“Since our pay TV business has a solid business model and customer base, we believe tapping into it will help us distribute AI assistant services,” he said.

Whereas SK Telecom has sold 40,000 NUGUs since it released the voice-recognizing AI assistant system on Sept. 1 last year, KT showed confidence in the market success of its own AI service, on the back of its strong IPTV subscriber base nationwide.

“We are attracting over 1.2 million IPTV subscribers a year,” KT’s marketing division head Kang Kook-hyun said. “Because we aim to encourage our IPTV subscribers to choose the new AI assistance service at the same time, we believe we can achieve our sales goal with our new service.”

Like other voice-recognizing AI assistant systems, GiGA Genie is operated through a cylindrical speaker-type device. Besides two microphones and Harman-Kardon speaker units, it supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and fixed-line Ethernet internet access.

For visual communication features, the device has a full high-definition camera module equipped with Sony’s 6-megapixel image sensor. The IPTV set-top box inside the device supports 4K ultra high-definition resolution and high dynamic range, according to KT.

Users can give verbal orders to the device to control KT’s IPTV service Olleh TV, music streaming service Genie Music and diverse home Internet of Things (IoT) installations such as home camera, gas lock, door lock and smart plug. They can also verbally request the AI assistant for food delivery, call a taxi, schedule search, navigation inquiry and news information.

Under a demo session during Tuesday’s press conference, the GiGA Genie device recognized most of the verbal orders given by the demonstrators.

KT underlined that it has introduced diverse technologies including remote voice-recognition, natural language process for Korean as well as the deep learning algorithm to gradually improve the AI system’s natural language conversation capability.

“We have discreetly been developing our own Korean language recognition technology for the last 25 years,” KT’s service laboratory head and Vice President Baek Gyu-tae said. “Besides our own technologies, we seek for cooperation with third-party businesses to improve the database.”

KT said those who are already using Olleh TV can replace the existing IPTV set-top box into the GiGA Genie device. The monthly rent for the device has been set at 6,600 won for those who use the IPTV service under a three-year contract. Those who are not using KT’s IPTV service can buy the device separately for 299,000 won, the company said.