Development Kit for Amazon AVS Supports Far-field Voice Interaction with Multiple Microphone Array Options

Microchip Technology, via its Microsemi Corporation subsidiary, announced that its AcuEdge ZLK38AVS Development Kit for Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) now introduces far-field voice pick up and the flexibility to build devices with multiple mic array configurations. The audio front-end solution with one, two and three mic configurations reduces bill of materials costs while addressing the requirements of small-form-factor designs.

Smart devices have proliferated across everyday life for Chinese people, offering considerable opportunities for global companies operating within the AI space – specifically focused on the voice assistant market. According to the latest report from SAR Insight & Consulting – China Voice Market – the average Chinese consumer has become much more positive about the benefits of owning connected devices helping to drive greater interest in the interactive voice functionality.

Because every R&D department in the planet is currently looking at implementing voice, and everyone's looking at audioXpress for guidance on how to design a smart speaker, in this edition Kevin Connor, shares his insider knowledge on the topic. Connor, a Cirrus Logic engineer, explains how to provide audio and voice solutions, and design products that sound great and respond reliably to voice commands, regardless of backend service. This article was originally published in audioXpress, January 2018.

Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, announced a breakthrough in speech separation technology at an annual R&D open house held in Tokyo. The research lab has created the world's first technology that separates in real time the simultaneous speech of multiple unknown speakers recorded with a single microphone. It’s a key step towards building machines that can interact in noisy environments, in the same way that humans can have meaningful conversations in the presence of many other conversations.

German company HEAD acoustics launched VoCAS (Voice Control Analysis System), an efficient software analysis solution for evaluating speech recognition systems. From voice control in vehicles to the use of speech commands for smartphones, tablets or telephone hotlines, VoCAS allows quick and objective quality evaluation, under realistic and repeatable test conditions, of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems, found in an increasing number of applications today.