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North County Times -- Date: 4 April 1998 They can help you talk to lights. By Larry Purcell - Staff Writer
Poway - Bruised shins or even a tumble on the floor may become a thing of the past for most of us who don't navigate well in a dark room. Three local businessmen who built Poway-based VOS Systems Inc. with $25,000 in seed money may have seen to that. Their product is called IntelaVoice™, which they describe as the world's first voice-activated light switch, a $29.95 plug-in that turns on lights in a dark room by "hearing" the word "lights." The IntelaVoice™ voice-operated switch, they say, permits consumers talk to their lights and other small electrical appliances, commanding them to turn on or off. IntelaVoice™ is sold through various catalogs, including Hammacher-Schlemmer retail outlets, and directly from the company. Although none of the three partners -- Allan Ligi, Rick Matulich and Don Nunn -- have an electronic engineering background, they were able to negotiate what they term "a very attractive technology partnership" for their voice chips. Ligi and Nunn still operate their other businesses in Poway. Allan Ligi, chief executive officer, says that IntelaVoice™ uses voice-recognition technology developed through a technology partnership with Sensory, Inc., a Sunnyvale company that makes micro controllers and neural networks for speech-recognition applications. Ligi says that IntelaVoice™ will make them competitive with consumer electronics firms such as Mattel and Uniden. He also envisions VOS being competitive with other companies using voice recognition technology for applications such as toys, telephones and devices for the physically disabled. Rick Matulich, the company's chief operations officer, is in China to oversee production of its first 2,000 switches for quality assurance and bugs. Matulich is projecting 1998 revenues in the range of $1.5 to $2 million. For Further Information RICK MATULICH, Press & Media Relations
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