TiVo selects Pindrop voice authentication

Pindrop and TiVo Partner, Simplifying Video Streaming Content Discovery with Voice

ATLANTA — TiVo, the company that brings entertainment together and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xperi Holding Corporation, and Pindrop, a pioneer in fraud detection and voice authentication, today announced a strategic global partnership to address the growing demands for a smarter, more personalized way to engage with entertainment content.

TiVo and Pindrop have partnered to deliver a streamlined content discovery experience for consumers, unlocked through voice AI. “Contextual awareness is key when engaging users through a Natural User Interface. Beyond just understanding what was said, we want to understand the context of the situation to drive intelligent system behavior in the moment,” said Jon Heim, Senior Director of Product & Conversation Services at TiVo. “The ability to distinguish between different members of a household based on their voice is an example of this contextual awareness, enabling us to provide an unprecedented level of personalization through an experience tailored to that specific person.”

Pindrop and TiVo will be continuing to collaborate to bring voice authentication technology to TiVo’s Conversation Services product so that users have their own personalized experience. Through normal interactions via voice, over time the device distinguishes between household members and changes its behavior accordingly – no overt action on the part of the end user is required. For example, a user can say, “What should I watch?” and the TiVo service will tailor an experience with personalized content they are most likely to want to watch. If another member of the household says the exact same thing, they’ll get completely different results – no profile switching required. And this is all done with privacy in mind. User opt-in is required, and while Pindrop’s solution is able to distinguish between different speakers, the technology doesn’t know nor need to know the identity of who is speaking.

With Pindrop’s voice authentication technology, OTT streaming devices, platforms and services now have access to a speech recognition solution that enables a more engaging user experience, which leads to higher customer retention and less churn. Pindrop is a leader in security for voice AI, currently delivering voice solutions to 8 of the top 10 banks in the world. Pindrop’s technology analyzes more than 250 specific biological and behavioral voice characteristics, like the frequency and harmonics of speech as well as the patterns of intonation, rhythm, style, and even tone and emotions. Additionally, background noises or changes in a speaker’s voice caused by sickness, aging or even mask wearing has a negligible impact on Pindrop’s Voice Authentication accuracy. Pindrop’s technology is easy to integrate with any device or voice platform, and provides an independent and platform-agnostic solution that enables partners to retain their brand and control their own data and insights.

“We believe that with our state-of-the-art voice authentication technology combined with TiVo’s expertise in the OTT video space, we’ll be able to unlock new experiences for consumers across the globe… and we’re just getting started,” said Vijay Balasubramaniyan, Pindrop CEO. The companies will announce the first TiVo enabled product with Pindrop’s technology in the coming months.

Also starting today, developers can request access to this Pindrop technology to help take their content experiences to the next level. Learn more at www.pindrop.com/tv.

Market Opportunity & Consumer Need

There has been a surge in the quantity of new media apps and streaming content. Consumers have come to expect a personalized experience, but are struggling to find it in the overly complex OTT world.

2020 saw a rise in consumer demand for voice enabled solutions and this voice trend has extended to Smart TV and OTT devices, which now have voice-control as a feature. But current voice control solutions on TV have not been able to deliver simple, easy and reliable experiences to help consumers find what they want to watch. Consumers continue to expect more from voice as their user interface of choice – it’s time to embrace voice-enabled personalization.