Our Most Important Development Milestones at a Glance
Our Story — How it All Began...
2008 Founding idea
At TU Dresden, professionals and scientists in the field of AI algorithms and speech recognition come together to brainstorm innovative speech recognition applications beyond dictation and the like. The idea of language teaching for children quickly emerged. A toy was envisioned to contain an embedded system housing a very small speech dialogue system with speech recognition and didactic content. The provisional project name Lingubär was created.
2009 Founding preparations
Funding was quickly found for this idea, as in addition to the new scientific and technical topics and the creation of jobs, it also addresses an important social issue: the promotion of children’s language education. So a three-person founding team got started and tried to tackle this product idea.
2010 Founding of the company Linguwerk
To finance the product idea, projects are also conducted with reputable companies to further develop their technologies and products. Particularly noteworthy is the partnership with Volkswagen, with whom a stable and successful customer relationship has been maintained to this day.
To provide a legal framework for these activities, the company Linguwerk GbR is founded. Triggered by this initial growth, it is rebranded as Linguwerk GmbH in 2011. The company moves into the startup incubator at HTW Dresden.
2011 Three business units
Linguwerk operates three business units from the outset:
- Dialog Toys/Lingufino: Engaged in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of Lingufino, which evolved from the founding idea of Lingubär (www.lingufino.de)
- alphaspeech: Offers technical products and services in the field of speech AI, speech recognition, and speech dialogue (alphaspeech.de)
- Embedded AI: This division focuses on providing technical products and services in AI algorithms, signal and image processing, electronics development, embedded software development, client-server software development, etc.
2012 Moving to our current location
With the growth of ideas comes the need for space to implement them. Therefore, Linguwerk moves to the IPRO building in the southern part of Dresden.
2013 Scientific collaboration with HTW
Linguwerk and Embedded AI embark on their first joint scientific research projects with HTW Dresden. This collaboration has been a success story to this day. It represents continuity and tangible knowledge transfer. Scientific findings are translated into real products, offering benefits for the company through scientific support and for the university by conducting research directly tied to practical applications.
Subsequently, there have been many other collaborations, such as with TU Dresden and others. However, HTW Dresden remains our most important partner for joint scientific projects.
2013 Larger office on the 7th floor
We continue to grow. To accommodate our needs, we move to the top floor, the 7th floor, and now have a wonderful view over the rooftops of Dresden – including a view of the Frauenkirche.
2014 Rewe Team Challenge
This year, we took part in the Rewe Team Challenge for the first time – a public running event in Dresden in which teams from all kinds of organizations can take part. The focus is on the Olympic idea and the team and not necessarily the best running time. Since then, we have regularly taken part in the Rewe Team Challenge.
2014 First trade fairs participations
For the first time, we are taking part in the Embedded World and CeBIT trade fairs with a stand. We presented our technologies. In particular, our gesture recognition for automobiles attracted a lot of interest. Further orders resulted from these contacts.
2014 Practice partner for first trainee
2015 Lingufino’s market launch
We have reached a new milestone. The world’s smallest speech recognizer (alphaspeech μ) has been completed. It runs on the minimalist and therefore extremely cost-effective electronic board in the Lingufino.
In addition to the speech recognizer and electronics, the embedded software and the housing have also been finalized. All components are now ready for series production.
Production takes place in China. An automated logistics chain ensures transportation to the relevant wholesalers in Germany.
Lingufino is also launching its website and online store on the market.
2016 CES in Las Vegas
A new embedded AI has been completed. We are developing a sensor and associated algorithms for gesture recognition for our customer Volkswagen.
The gesture recognition is to be used to open car doors. In particular, these are foot gestures for opening the tailgate and hand gestures on the B-pillar for opening the side doors.
Our technology will be installed in the VW Budd-e concept car and presented at the CES trade fair in Las Vegas. We were there with them.
2017 UWB starts
Embedded AI is launching new research projects on the topic of ultra-wideband and will soon become a pioneer in the field of UWB. The topic is extremely exciting for car manufacturers, as it allows several conventional sensor systems to be replaced at the same time. This offers enormous savings potential.
Embedded AI is set to become a leading player in UWB technology in the coming years.
2018 First LinguCamp
We are a team! Let’s celebrate that! We spend an active weekend together in Bad Sonnenland near Moritzburg. Lots of sunshine and good humor will accompany us as we swim in the lake, storm the high ropes course or go on an archery adventure. In the evening, we have a barbecue and toast to the great teamwork. Of course, guitar music and a campfire are also a must, as are the odd (off-key) song or two.
2020 Ten years of Linguwerk
Linguwerk celebrates its 10th anniversary! Over the past 10 years, we have helped shape the world of algorithms and developed pioneering solutions through innovative technologies and dedicated research. Here’s to many more successful years – a reason to celebrate despite Corona.
2021 Brand and website
After all these years, the Business Unit Embedded AI is receiving its own protected brand and the domain www.embedded.ai.
2022 Office opening in Leipzig
Dresden is getting too small. We expand to Leipzig and open an office in the trade fair city.
2022 Tenth anniversary
We congratulate the first two employees on their tenth anniversary. They seem to feel at home. Keep up the good work!
2023 We are a training company
We continue to develop. We offer apprenticeships and internships. So far, we have had various interns in training as practice partners, interns during their studies, bachelor’s and master’s students, diploma and doctoral students. This year, for the first time, we are taking on responsibility as company providing:
- practical training for a dual student in Computer Science at the Berufsakademie Sachsen and
- apprenticeship training for an IT Specialist (Fachinformatiker) in collaboration with the Berufliches Schulzentrum Elektrotechnik Dresden (BSZET)
2024 We are an NXP Gold Partner
We are excited to announce that we are now an official NXP Gold Partner. This recognition marks a significant milestone and underscores our expertise and commitment to developing innovative solutions in the field of embedded systems.
The NXP Partner Program is a global network of engineering companies that provides tools, software, services, and training to streamline design processes and promote smart, connected solutions. As a Gold Partner, we are proud to be part of this network, leveraging our knowledge and experience to drive the implementation of cutting-edge technologies.
This partnership allows us to collaborate closely with NXP and access the latest resources and technologies. It enables us to make projects more efficient and offer our customers tailored system solutions that meet the highest standards. With this step, we are making a strong statement for the advancement of intelligent, connected systems, and we look forward to shaping the future together with NXP and our customers.
