Software Recovers Time For Commuters by Reading To Them As They Commute

Posted on November 3, 1997

More than 12 million people hop into their car every weekday and drive at least 45 minutes to get to work. The average commute takes more than 22 minutes. Wasted time for most of us.

Now, a PC software package and companion information services, introduced today by startup Cocomo ID, allow commuters to listen to a personalized narrowcast while driving to the office. "Anyone can recover their 'wasted' commuting time by using it to listen to their 'Personal Audio Reports'", according to Dr. Gary Tjaden, the company's President and Founder.

The software, called the "Personal Audio Librarian" or "PAL", retrieves a small file by automatically dialing into a host server in the early morning hours. The file contains information specially formatted for a speech synthesizer built into the software. Under control of the user, the synthesizer produces a natural sounding spoken information program. The contents of the file can be personalized to each user, and users can configure their software to personalize how it is played. More details are available on the company's web site at www.audiopal.com.