In a program facilitated by Newlab, Voiceitt demonstrates the
flexibility and inclusivity of its next-generation speech
recognition technology for individuals who are English-speaking
Deaf and hard-of-hearing with non-standard speech.
TEL
AVIV, Israel and STAMFORD,
Conn., July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Voiceitt, the Israel-based
leader in speech recognition technology for non-standard speech,
announced today the successful completion of a joint pilot
validating its inclusive voice AI with Deaf and hard-of-hearing
individuals. Voiceitt's technology was built with and for people
with non-standard speech, and its unique speech database includes
speech recordings from people with impaired and atypical speech to
augment and improve Voiceitt's voice AI models. This database of
non-standard speech allows Voiceitt to provide a more inclusive and
accurate experience. Voiceitt further improves its recognition of
non-standard speech by providing personalized recognition for
individuals who provide a minimum of 200 recordings.
The pilot was facilitated by Newlab, a deep tech venture
platform that works closely with innovators as they build, pilot,
and scale frontier technologies. The goal of the pilot was to
demonstrate an improved accuracy with Voiceitt's speech recognition
with Deaf accented speech and provide qualitative insights to
evaluate impactful use cases for voice AI among Deaf and hard of
hearing individuals.
Jamie LePinnet, the Director at
Newlab who facilitated the pilot, said, "The Voiceitt pilot is
directly in line with the goals of the Studio to pilot with
startups working on impact-driven advancements in language
services. The success of the pilot sets the stage for strategic
collaborations that can have a far-reaching impact on customers,
and the community at large."
According to the Hearing Loss Association of America, 48 million
Americans have some degree of hearing loss. While the adoption of
voice enabled smart speakers and other devices has increased,
people with non-standard speech due to being Deaf or hard of
hearing are often not able to access and enjoy these devices, which
pilot participants noted "rarely understands their speech". Aside
from the convenience of speech recognition over typing, some
participants noted that interpreters working with Deaf individuals
do not always accurately represent what the speaker aims to
express. Another pilot participant explained that when individuals
are discussing a sensitive topic, they may prefer not to have a
third-party interpreter present, and inclusive speech recognition
would help prevent "communication breakdown", and help them be
better understood.
"Speech recognition technology is incredibly valuable for the
Deaf community," said Tyler Pujeda, a heart researcher in
Boston who participated in the
pilot and is now an active user of Voiceitt's application. "New
inclusive products can help us feel listened to and
understood."
The pilot also analyzed quantitative results of Voiceitt's
proprietary speech recognition software, and compared Voiceitt with
the industry's leading providers of speech recognition, measuring
accuracy using the word error rate (WER) metric. Deaf users in this
pilot obtained an average of 8% WER (more than 90% accuracy) after
training the system with 200 recordings. Voiceitt's system also
achieved higher accuracy than leading industry software for the
Deaf speakers with non-standard speech who participated in the
pilot, even with no training at all.
Dr. Rachel Levy, a speech
pathologist and Voiceitt's customer success manager, emphasized
that while Voiceitt has historically focused on individuals with a
diverse range of speech impairments, this pilot offered a unique
opportunity. "This pilot validated Voiceitt's compatibility and
increased accuracy with Deaf voices," Dr. Levy said. "However, its
greatest impact resulted from the feedback and insights collected
from pilot participants which has directly impacted the development
of solutions geared towards the needs and preferences of the Deaf
community and the other communities we serve and support."
ABOUT VOICEITT
Voiceitt's mission is to help people with disabilities live more
connected, independent lives. Voiceitt's proprietary automatic
speech recognition (ASR) enables people with non-standard speech to
access mainstream voice technologies, communicate by voice, and be
understood. Voiceitt has been highlighted in international media,
including Forbes, Amazon Science, BBC, and The New York Times. Investors include Cisco
Investments, the Amazon Alexa Fund, AARP, and Microsoft's M12.
Voiceitt was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Israel with a subsidiary in Stamford, CT. Visit www.voiceitt.com to learn
more.
ABOUT NEWLAB
Newlab is a venture platform built to decarbonize the economy. We
take a place-based approach to de-risking technology, accelerating
deep tech startups, and driving economic development. Newlab has 3
locations globally.
Today, Newlab includes more than 1,000 entrepreneurs,
partnerships with forward-thinking corporate and civic entities,
and a network of active investors—all working together to scale
deep tech. To date, Newlab has supported its 300+ member companies
in raising over $5.8B from venture
capital firms, with over $2.3B of
successful exits and a collective valuation of over $20B. Visit www.newlab.com to learn
more.
Contacts
Media Contacts:
For Voiceitt:
Sara Smolley, Co-Founder and VP of
Partnerships
sara@voiceitt.com
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SOURCE Voiceitt, Inc.