Next week, ALEX makes his first overseas trip to Paris to attend the Society in Europe for Simulation Applied to Medicine annual congress. We’re as excited for SESAM attendees to meet ALEX as he is to see the City of Light!
With ALEX’s upcoming trip, I thought it would be timely to write about the top 5 questions asked by members of the international community.
- Does ALEX speak multiple languages?
- Today, ALEX speaks North American English. The future; however, looks promising. ALEX will expand his language abilities and become a multilingual citizen of the world before SESAM 2018. “How?” and “When?” may be your next questions.
- The “How” is easily answered: ALEX is cloud connected, thus language updates can be delivered through the cloud, at no additional cost to you. For example, when French (in honor of our host city for SESAM) is available, it will be an available option to all ALEX users, free of charge.
- The “When” is more difficult question to answer today, as I cannot be specific about languages or timeline, but we expect ALEX to start speaking several languages within a year.
- I speak English, but with an accent. Will ALEX understand my accent?
- ALEX uses Google’s state-of-the-art speech recognition engine, Cloud Speech API to transcribe human speech (in this case, short utterances of commands, questions, or dictations) into text; and various Machine Learning technologies to select the most likely appropriate response depending on the phonetic content of the transcript.
- If you have an accent, don’t worry! By using Google’s Cloud Speech
services, ALEX’s speech recognition is enhanced with each passing day as millions of users around the world grow the repository with each interaction. ALEX will do his best to understand your accent, and 9 times out of 10 he’ll get it right.
- Can I author scenarios and program ALEX’s responses?
- Yes. ALEX comes loaded with 5 different patient scenarios, but we know that your simulations are ever-evolving and run the gamut of objectives. For the time being, we will upload your custom scenarios and custom responses for ALEX. And this fall, you will have the ability to self-author and compose directly within the interface.
- What type and strength of internet connectivity does ALEX need?
- The short answer: wired or wireless connections with 2Mb/s or ~4G speed are minimum requirements for ALEX.
- The long answer: A hardwired ethernet connection offers both speed and reliability. ALEX automatically connects to institutional networks using IP configuration via DHCP service when hardwired. Wireless connectivity offers both portability and flexibility. For wireless (wifi) networks, ALEX can utilize any 2.4Ghz wifi network using WPA2 PSK, WPA2 Enterprise, captive portal or no authentication. Whether ALEX is using wired or wireless networks, he should have outgoing access to the internet.
- How do I purchase ALEX in my country?
- Purchases can be made directly from Simulaids, Inc., or through Simulaids’ vast international distributors network. The International Simulaids Team can connect you with your country’s distributor.
- Stacey Haywood, Director of Sales Canada
- Lee Johnson, Director of Sales Europe & Asia Pacific
- Khaled AbuDayyeh Director of Sales Middle East/South East Asia /Africa
- Edmundo Vargas Neto, Director of Sales Brazil
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Marco Pasqualin, Director of Latin America Sales
- Purchases can be made directly from Simulaids, Inc., or through Simulaids’ vast international distributors network. The International Simulaids Team can connect you with your country’s distributor.
We’re looking forward to seeing many of you at SESAM and answering more of your questions!
See you June 14 – 16 in Paris!
