easyJet is introducing ‘Speak Now’ a feature on its app to enable customers to search for flights using voice recognition technology, aiming to make booking flights easier and more accessible.
The system is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and uses Dialogflow, Google Cloud’s natural language understanding tool for building conversational experiences.
The feature will ask audible questions to determine the booking criteria customers require, making it easier to narrow down criteria such as destination, date and airports. While typing a search query takes 12 taps, easyJet said that with the vocal steps in Speak Now it could take seconds.
Daniel Young, head of digital experience at easyJet said the airline aims to improve the travel experience, including making booking flights more accessible, “especially for those who are visually impaired, and Speak Now helps us achieve this objective.”
“We continue to place innovation at the heart of our industry-leading mobile travel app to give our customers the tools they need to have a smooth experience booking flights with us. Embracing this latest technology makes preparing for travel, easy and fun.”
Cormac Reilly, VP & global head of Travel Partners Solutions, who developed the technology for easyJet at Travelport commented: “This is the latest in a series of innovative world first features that make booking travel as easy as possible, giving easyJet customers a helpful digital experience. Conversational voice search is a great example of how we’re using the latest technologies, including AI and Google Cloud’s Dialogflow, to make the experience of buying and managing travel continually better for everyone.”
The voice search functionality will be available in English on iOS and follows recent innovations developed by the airline including a visual search tool using Instagram images (Look&Book), and a cabin bag-sizer tool, which incorporates augmented reality technology to enable passengers to check the size of their hand-luggage before heading to the airport.
