Project Voice Names the Finalists of the 2020 Project Voice Awards

NASHVILLE, Tenn. and CHATTANOOGA Tenn., Dec. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Project Voice, the No. 1 event for voice tech and AI in America (happening the week after CES), named the 2020 finalists of the Project Voice Awards. The awards include such categories as Google Assistant Developer of the Year, Samsung Bixby Developer of the Year, Amazon Alexa Developer of the Year and Voice Experience of the Year, among others.

The 2020 Project Voice Awards will be presented on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2020, at the Chattanooga Convention Center during a special gala sponsored by Google.

Project Voice will take place Jan. 13 - 17, 2020, and the event will gather the companies and innovators who are shaping the future of voice tech, in addition to executives from various vertical markets. Registration and conference details for Project Voice (formerly The Alexa Conference) are available at ProjectVoice.ai.

"The finalists of the Project Voice Awards demonstrate excellence across the global voice tech community, and we look forward to honoring them in January," said Bradley Metrock, executive producer of Project Voice, host of This Week in Voice, and author of More Than Just Weather & Music: 200 Ways to Use Alexa.

The finalists for the 2020 Project Voice Awards include:

Outstanding Achievement:

• Paul Cutsinger / Dave Isbitski (Amazon Alexa)
• Mandy Chan / Cathy Pearl (Google Assistant)
• Adam Cheyer (Samsung Bixby)
• Katie McMahon (SoundHound Inc.)
• Brian Roemmele (coined the term "voice-first")
• Pete Erickson (created the VOICE Summit)
• Amazon (leading the Voice Interoperability Initiative)

Voice Developer of the Year:

• Pretzel Labs
• Labworks.io
• NPR
• Baidu
• SoundHound Inc.
• Matchbox.io
• Drivetime
• Invoked Apps
• Volley
• Skilled Creative
• Vocala
• Orbita
• Doppio Games
• Bamboo Learning

Voice Experience of the Year:

• Send Me A Sample
• NPR "Continuous Listening" Experience with Amazon Alexa
• Pandora Voice Mode Powered by Houndify
• Story Time (Facebook Portal)
• Drivetime
• Siri Shortcuts
• "Alexa, What Am I Holding?" (Amazon)
• My Storytime (Google)
• Google Recorder
• Clinc
• Alexa Guard
• Ambient Mode (Google)
• Question Of The Day
• Xbox One integration of both Alexa and Google Assistant
• Audible Customer Support via Alexa
• Division Network
• Spotify
• Chatterbox

Voice/AI Pioneer of the Year:

• Adva Levin (Pretzel Labs)
• John Ball (Pat.ai)
• Zohaib Ahmed (Resemble.ai)
• Rupal Patel (VocaliD)
• Joshua Montgomery (Mycroft)
• Keyvan Mohajer (SoundHound Inc.)
• Niko Vuori (Drivetime)
• Alex Farr (Zammo.ai)
• Jing Kun (Baidu)
• Heidi Culbertson (Marvee)
• Jason Mars (Clinc)
• Tom Hewitson (Labworks.io)
• Rand Hindi (Snips)
• Joan Palmiter Bajorek (Women in Voice)
• Paul Fu (Alibaba)
• Bill Rogers (Orbita)
• Jeff Adams (Cobalt)
• Bob Stolzberg (VoiceXP)
• Kevin Elgan (Chatterbox)

Voice/AI Journalist of the Year:

• Bret Kinsella (Voicebot.AI)
• Karen Weise (New York Times)
• Ben Fox Rubin (CNET)
• Christina Farr (CNBC)
• Jefferson Graham (USA Today)
• Shira Ovide (Bloomberg)
• James Vincent (The Verge)
• Rachel Lerman (AP)
• Jared Newman (Fast Company)
• David Pierce (WSJ / Protocol)

The Project Voice Medal for Diversity and Inclusion:

• Women in Voice
• Ella the Jellyfish: For LGS Families (Eisai, Inc. Alexa Skill)
• Project Understood (CDSS + Google)
• OurAbility
• LifePod
• Speak Up America
• Project Diva (Google)
• "Alexa, What Am I Holding?" (Amazon / Echo Show)
• Giveaway of 100k Google smart speakers to paralyzed people (Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation + Google)
• Voice Preservation Clinic (VocaliD + Northeastern Univ)

The "This Week in Voice" Award – Voice/AI Commentator of the Year

• Sam Warnaars / Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald
• Teri Fisher
• Katherine Prescott
• Bret Kinsella
• Kane Simms
• EchoDad
• Nick Myers
• Carl Robinson
• Julie Davis

Amazon Alexa Developer of the Year

• Pretzel Labs
• Matchbox.io
• Xandra
• NPR
• RAIN Agency
• Labworks.io
• VaynerMedia
• Invoked Apps
• Doppio Games
• Vocala
• Skilled Creative
• Earplay
• Sony Pictures Television

Amazon Alexa Skill of the Year

• Daily Dilemma
• Starbucks Reorder
• Wait Wait Quiz
• Economist Espresso
• Mastermind
• NPR
• Skyrim Very Special Edition
• 7-Minute Workout
• Sleep Sounds
• Stephen King Library
• Coursera
• The Vortex
• Kids Court

Google Assistant Developer of the Year

• Disney
• CNBC
• Netflix
• E*TRADE
• NPR
• SiriusXM
• Walmart
• Alleylight Studios

Google Assistant Action of the Year

• Mickey's Game Show
• YouTube Music
• Stephen King Library
• Wait Wait Quiz
• E*TRADE
• Disney Princess
• Google Calendar
• My Storytime
• Economist Espresso
• Walmart
• Frozen Stories
• SiriusXM
• Dress Right
• CNBC
• Chromecast
• Netflix

Samsung Bixby Developer of the Year

• Adassa Innovations
• Volley
• Audioburst
• Matchbox.io
• SideChef
• Google

Samsung Bixby Capsule of the Year

• Big Sky
• SideChef Recipes
• Question of the Day
• Gmail
• Radio.com
• ScoreStream
• Audioburst
• Baby Stats
• CNBC
• Samsung Pay
• YouTube

Independent Voice Assistant Developer of the Year

• Cobalt Speech
• Mycroft
• SoundHound Inc.
• Clinc

The Voice of the Car Summit Awards – Automotive Voice Experience of the Year

• Drivetime.FM
• MBUX
• Echo Auto
• Hum by Verizon
• Apple CarPlay
• CloudCar
• what3words

Automotive Voice Developer of the Year

• Drivetime.FM
• Cerence
• SoundHound Inc.
• Alexa Auto
• Mercedes Benz
• Apple
• CloudCar

The Voice of Healthcare Summit Awards – Healthcare Voice Experience of the Year

• LifePod
• Voice First Health series
• Ella The Jellyfish: For LGS Families (Eisai, Inc. Alexa Skill)
• Suki
• Constant Companion
• American Cancer Society
• Voice Preservation Clinic (VocalID + Northeastern Univ)
• Dragon Medical
• First Aid (Mayo Clinic)
• OrbitaAssist

Healthcare Voice Developer of the Year

• Teri Fisher
• LifePod
• Beyond Verbal
• Nuance Healthcare
• Suki
• Canary Speech
• Mayo Clinic
• Boston Children's Hospital / IDHA
• Orbita

The Voice of Education Summit Awards – Education Voice Experience of the Year

• 1-2-3 Math
• Bamboo Math
• Voicelets
• Highlights Storybooks from Bamboo
• Novel Effect
• Mr. Math

Education Voice Developer of the Year

• Pretzel Labs
• Sermo Labs
• Voicelets
• Bamboo Learning
• Novel Effect
• Mr. Math

Digital Book World Awards – Publishing/Storytelling Voice Experience of the Year

• The Muffin Man
• Voice Computing Book / Talk To Me
• Stephen King Library
• Capstone's "You Choose" Series
• My Box of Chocolates (Tellables)
• Amazon Storytime
• Earplay
• Choose Your Own Adventure (Audible)

Publishing/Storytelling Voice Developer of the Year

• Tellables
• Chatty Creations
• Drivetime / Masterpiece Channel
• Skilled Creative
• Novel Effect
• Earplay
• Audible

The Voice of Money Awards – Banking/Finance Voice Experience of the Year

• TD Ameritrade
• Erica (Bank of America)
• Bond.AI
• Savings Coach
• Abbie (AllianceBernstein)
• Ally Assist
• FIVE (Best Innovation Group)
• Tyfone Omnichannel

Banking/Finance Voice Developer of the Year

• TD Ameritrade
• Bond.AI
• Nuance
• Capital One
• Clinc
• Personetics
• Best Innovation Group
• AllianceBernstein
• Kasisto
• Tyfone

Smart Home Voice Developer of the Year

• Logitech
• Philips Hue
• Brilliant
• iRobot
• Samsung
• Honeywell

Retail Voice Developer of the Year

• Blutag
• H&M
• Kohls
• Macy's
• Levi's

Gaming Voice Experience of the Year

• Trivia Hero
• Wait Wait Quiz
• Drivetime
• Division Network
• Question of the Day
• Song Quiz
• Skyrim Very Special Edition
• Destiny 2 Ghost

Gaming Voice Developer of the Year

• Labworks.io
• Volley
• Bungie
• Matchbox.io
• Drivetime
• Ubisoft
• Bethesda

News Voice Experience of the Year

• NPR "Continuous Listening" Experience With Amazon Alexa
• Play Me the News (Google)
• FOX News
• Headliner
• The BBC
• Gaming Observer
• CNN

News Voice Developer of the Year

• The BBC
• NPR
• FOX News
• Adrian Simple / Gaming Observer
• Google
• CNN

Flash Briefing of the Year

• Voice Marketing with Emily Binder (Emily Binder)
• Voice in Canada (Teri Fisher)
• The Pitch with Amy Summers (Amy Summers)
• The Instagram Stories (Daniel Hill)
• Voice in Education (Julie Davis)
• AL.com's Down in Alabama with Ike Morgan (Alabama Media Group)
• Kidz Bop Daily (Kidz Bop)
• The Smart Speakers (Peter Stewart)
• RTL Nieuws Update (RTL Nieuws)
• Gaming Observer (Adrian Simple)
• Question of the Day Briefing (Matchbox.io)

Third-Party Voice Development Tool of the Year

• Voiceflow
• Resemble.ai
• Speech Markdown
• ReadSpeaker
• Trebble.FM
• Jovo
• Voicify
• Adobe XD
• Bespoken
• Jargon

In addition to the awards, Project Voice features: 100+ conference sessions; The Voice World Fair; a closing keynote address from Kane Simms, host and producer of VUX World; a variety of workshops and networking opportunities; book signings with voice tech authors; the roast of Bret Kinsella, founder, CEO and research director of Voicebot.ai; and the gathering of the VoiceFirst.Community, the trade association formed to represent the shared interests of people and organizations working with voice-first technology.

For details about Project Voice and to register for the event via Eventbrite, visit https://www.projectvoice.ai.

SOURCE VoiceFirst Events