Speech recognition technology to enable the speech disabled to communicate freely

Project Information

Talkitt

Grant agreement ID: 744719

DOI

10.3030/744719

Project closed

EC signature date 3 December 2016

Start date 1 December 2016

End date 31 March 2017

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

TECHNOLOGIES OF VOICE INTERFACE LTD
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Talkitt (Speech recognition technology to enable the speech disabled to communicate freely)

Reporting period: 2016-12-01 to 2017-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Speech is a basic need. For about 1.3% of the world’s population, however, day to day communication is a nearly impossible task. Voiceitt have developed Talkitt, a smartphone app that can translate inaudible speech into clear speech in real time using a unique speech recognition algorithm and a well-defined user database. Talkitt enables and encourages people with speech impairments to communicate and be understood using their own voices. It is easily downloadable to any smart device and is cross-platform compatible. Talkitt’s goal is to improve the quality of life of speech disabled people by fostering inclusion and independence and enabling communication through their own voices. By the end of the innovation project, Voiceitt will launch two applications: Talkitt Basic and Talkitt Pro, both of which will be available on all devices and will be usable in hands-free recognition mode and will be activated by speech (hands-free). The two products are designed to address the different severities of speech disabilities. Voiceitt anticipates that approximately 40% of end users will be better suited for the Talkitt Basic app (severely impaired speakers); the other 60% (the mildly-impaired speakers) is expected to be suited to Talkitt Pro. Through the innovation project, Voiceitt intends to launch the two versions of the app and perform a widespread market validation with trials in four countries.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Voiceitt undertook a full analysis of the both the technical and business potential of the Talkitt app. Throughout the project, Voiceitt has expanded their knowledge on the capabilities of the two apps, the mHealth and AAC device market, the different commercial and private customer segments and established a sound business model and commercialisation strategy for the anticipated market launch. Beta testing was completed and the feedback received has been crucial in shaping the remaining activities to be performed. Voiceitt also secured a hospital, a school and two disability associations for participation in large scale end user trials.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The expected outcome of the project is to optimise the technology and assure cross-platform compatibility, and gain a widespread market validation with end users in four countries. A sociolinguistic study will also be performed to evaluate the improvement to quality of life offered to speech disabled people. The Talkitt app is expected to be a life-changing technology as people are given the opportunity to speak freely for the first time.

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