YOKNEAM ILLIT, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VocalZoom, a leading supplier of Human-to-Machine Communication (HMC) optical sensors that enable a more natural, personalized and secure voice-control experience, today announced it has completed the final stage of design work with iFLYTEK, the supplier of China’s most popular speech recognition platform. iFLYTEK is preparing to launch a headset product by year’s end featuring the disruptive VocalZoom HMC solution, which has demonstrated in recent tests of iFLYTEK’s pre-production headset product that it can deliver near-perfect speech recognition in noisy voice-control environments, and even better performance than was originally demonstrated in early iFLYTEK lab tests of the sensor.
“Game-changing early test results for the VocalZoom sensor performance have only improved as we now prepare to launch our first product based on this truly innovative HMC solution,” said Haikun Wang, senior researcher at iFLYTEK. “Our upcoming headset featuring the VocalZoom sensor will redefine ASR performance in its product class and open up new applications in noisy environments where voice control products previously didn’t work. We also have entered the development stage with VocalZoom on another product for voice control in the connected car using a forthcoming longer-range version of their sensor.”
“We are extremely excited about the progress we have made with iFLYTEK on the company’s upcoming voice-control headset product,” said Rammy Bahalul, vice president of sales and business development for VocalZoom. “We believe that iFLYTEK is poised to revolutionize how users communicate with devices, applications and machines, leveraging the breakthrough capabilities of our optical HMC sensors. We also look forward to working with iFLYTEK on additional projects including a reference design that will simplify VocalZoom sensor design-in for product developers using the iFLYTEK ASR, and iFLYTEK’s next initiative for voice control and voice biometric solutions in the connected car.”
Early tests of the VocalZoom sensor with iFLYTEK’s Voice Cloud intelligent speech technology platform showed performance improvements of at least 50 percent compared to traditional speech-recognition technology in a quiet environment, and even better in noisy environments such as outdoors with street sounds, and in vehicles with windows open, engine noise, music playing and other interference. Testing of iFLYTEK’s pre-production headset featuring the sensor are yielding even greater improvements than those early results in quiet environments, while continuing to deliver near-perfect word recognition performance in noisy environments. This compares with traditional alternative solutions using one, two or an array of acoustic microphones with noise reduction technology, which cannot provide clean enough, isolated speaker input to operate satisfactorily in noisy environments.
VocalZoom’s compact, low-profile optical sensor solution takes a completely new approach to improving voice recognition and voice biometric, initially in headsets and wearables, and in the near future for the connected car and other longer-range sensor applications. By integrating the VocalZoom optical HMC sensor into a voice-control solution and focusing it on facial skin around the cheeks, ears, neck and throat, tiny vibrations during speech can be acquired, measured and converted to an isolated, near-perfect reference signal that machines can understand – regardless of noise levels.
About VocalZoom
VocalZoom supplies Human-to-Machine Communication (HMC) sensors for delivering a natural, personalized and secure voice-controlled user experience in today’s increasingly mobile and interconnected world. The sensors enable accurate and reliable voice control and biometrics authentication in any environment, regardless of noise. Applications including mobile secure payments, headsets and wearables, mobile phones, access control, smart home solutions, and hands-free automotive voice control. For more information, visit www.VocalZoom.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.