Voice Tech Startup Uses Biometrics to Cut Through Noise

“It’s designed to assess not just speech commands but voice biometrics, identifying that of a particular user even when a bunch of people are talking, or if there’s music or other background noise.”

A new voice interaction specialist has acquired $1.8 million in seed funding to bring its technology to market.

Called Yobe, the company emerged from an MIT research lab in 2016 with a $790,000 National Science Foundation SBIR grant. Now, its latest batch of funding has been provided by Clique Capital Partners, a fund that, as TechCrunch reports, was set up specifically to back voice technologies.

While there are a growing number of voice interaction technologies on the market, Yobe is aiming to distinguish itself with its technology’s ability to cut through noise. It’s designed to assess not just speech commands but voice biometrics, identifying that of a particular user even when a bunch of people are talking, or if there’s music or other background noise.

Speaking to TechCrunch, Yobe co-founder Ken Sutton said that this technology is fully developed, and that the latest funding is meant to bring it to market, asserting, “We will be in market with a product to sell in 30 days”.

Yobe won’t be alone, however. There are other voice interaction systems designed to reduce background noise, and Sensory Inc. has had one that incorporates voice recognition in the market for at least a year. But with interest in voice interfaces booming, there appears to be room for competition, with opportunities for solutions that can rise above the noise of the market.

Source: TechCrunch

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May 9, 2018 – by Alex Perala