Rovi introduces conversational voice search

Rovi has introduced a conversational voice search feature for its Fan TV platform.

Fan Voice is designed to surface any movie or show using advanced search methods that pick up on natural voice requests.

“Apple, Amazon and Google tackle a broad range of topics, but Fan Voice is the only one that is singularly focused on entertainment search across live TV and streaming to help you discover and watch your movies and shows instantly,” according to Rovi.

In a blog post describing the service, the company said that Fan Voice can respond to requests like ‘what’s on TV tonight’ or ‘show me movies in theatres’ – as opposed to “basic, robotic queries” like ‘Game of Thrones’ or ‘Tina Fey.’

Rovi’s Knowledge Graph dynamically searches over 100,000 sources to generate 100 million smart tags, 20 million key word assignments and 545,000 sub genres.

The company said this means that results are continually updated and sorted by relevance and popularity using a cross-section of sources.

“While this is the first time that Fan Voice is available for free on the Fan TV consumer apps, voice search is a focused investment area for Rovi as part of the Fan TV platform offering – a next-gen solution for service providers which is available as a full stack solution or through APIs, apps and OS,” said Rovi.

“Key components of the Fan TV platform are currently deployed with leading global service providers including Verizon, Dish, Cablevision, and Canal Digital. Now with Fan Voice on the Fan TV app, anyone can enjoy the ease of finding movies and shows across live TV and streaming simply by saying what they want to watch and then pressing play.”

The Fan TV platform offers tools to navigate what’s on across any screen, via set-top box, connected TV, mobile device, tablet or web. Its user interface lets viewers discover entertainment across live TV, video on demand, DVR and over-the-top services.

Rovi will exhibit at ANGA COM in hall 10.1, stand MS10