SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DSP Concepts, Inc., a developer of embedded audio processing solutions, has launched TalkTo™, a new brand and a major expansion of its voice recognition technologies. TalkTo is a family of software-based Audio Front Ends for voice-controlled products. It uses advanced microphone processing and machine learning techniques to deliver highly reliable voice control, even in high-noise environments.
With TalkTo, product makers can now offer a satisfying, voice-based user experience in categories where it was previously impossible, such as set-top boxes, multichannel soundbars, kitchen appliances, and TVs. In these applications, voice recognition is challenging because the product’s microphones are subjected to a wide variety of loud, interfering sounds.
“The demos I've heard of DSP Concepts' TalkTo technology are very impressive,” Peter Cooney, founder and director of SAR Insight and Consulting, said. “It's remarkable what they've accomplished because TalkTo can hear a wake word even when the surrounding noise audibly drowns out the user's voice. As voice control moves beyond smart speakers into applications where the surrounding noise is unpredictable -- such as appliances, wearables and vehicles -- this unmatched ability to separate the user's voice from the noise will become even more important.”
Most voice-controlled products can cancel the sound from their own speaker, but can do little or nothing to cancel the unpredictable noise sources in busy homes such as nearby TVs, air conditioners, appliances, and music coming from other devices. TalkTo is far more advanced. It continually monitors the environment and learns the character of any interfering noise, then adapts its noise cancelling to provide the clearest possible voice signal for local and cloud-based voice recognition engines. TalkTo is so sophisticated it can even cancel noise from multichannel sources such as soundbars -- a task that completely overwhelms most voice control systems.
“We created TalkTo because consumers are now accustomed to the speed and convenience of a voice-based interface, and are demanding that user experience in other products throughout their home -- from controlling what’s on TV to dimming the lights or setting the microwave without having to first wash your messy hands,” Chin Beckmann, CEO of DSP Concepts, said. “This demand places great stress on product development teams trying to figure out how to configure and manage microphone arrays in these applications, where noise and interference can be extreme and unpredictable. By incorporating TalkTo and one of our recommended microphone topologies, design teams can deliver the user experience their customers are demanding.”
TalkTo variants are available for many different applications. These include:
Smart Speaker: Accommodates arrays from two to eight mics, and
includes Adaptive Interference Cancellation™ (AIC) for industry-leading
wake word recognition.
Set Top Box: Uses a circular array,
and easily recognizes the wake word even in the presence of loud audio
from a nearby TV or soundbar.
Multichannel Soundbar: TalkTo
for soundbar includes DSP Concepts’ proprietary N-channel Acoustic Echo
Canceller (AEC) and AIC to deliver reliable wake-word recognition, even
at cinematic volume levels.
Smart Appliance & IoT:
Achieves clear voice signals even with a variety of mic array
configurations and in a wide range of product form factors.
Hearable
/ Wearable: Runs on small SoCs and DSPs and produces clean voice
signals even in high-noise environments.
TV & Smart Screen:
Delivers reliable far-field voice recognition even with linear two or
four-mic arrays.
Battery-Powered Devices: Runs on
low-power-consumption SoCs and DSPs, and uses on-demand noise-reduction
and progressive wake-up to minimize current draw.
For more information, visit dspconcepts.com.
About DSP Concepts
DSP Concepts, Inc. provides embedded audio processing solutions, including its AWE Core™ audio processing engine, Audio Weaver® graphical development environment, and TalkTo™ line of software-based Audio Front Ends. DSP Concepts specializes in microphone processing, and is the leading supplier to top-tier brands in automotive and consumer products. Founded by Dr. Paul Beckmann in 2003, DSP Concepts is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with offices in Boston, Stuttgart and Shanghai. For more information about DSP Concepts, please contact us at: dspconcepts.com/about/contacts or web at: dspconcepts.com.
Audio Weaver® is a registered trademark, and AWE Core™ and TalkTo™ are trademarks, of DSP Concepts, Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
