Clarity Engages Tokyo Company; Clarity Deploys Clarity Labs For Customers

TROY, MI - Clarity LLC announced that it has engaged AMSC in Tokyo to extend its selling and marketing efforts in Japan, where many of the top consumer electronics companies in the world are based. AMSC, established in 1975, and publicly traded beginning in 1995, is a $175 million sales organization with 10 offices throughout Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong and in Seattle. AMSC has 180 employees, 100 of which are in sales and related engineering support positions. AMSC is the largest supplier of TI, Motorola and ST Microelectronics semiconductors in Japan and CVCTM (Clear Voice Capture) is currently running on these micro-processors that complement and differentiate AMSC's overall selling efforts. AMSC also represents Dolby; sells into the automotive, multi-media, PC and games and toys markets. Clarity's CVC Clear Voice Capture technology targets the rapidly growing number of consumers using today's small, portable communications devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, and mobile hands-free systems including Bluetooth. Users of such devices often find themselves in noisy environments where the performance of the voice interface may be affected. CVC locks in on the speaker's voice, freeing it from interfering background audio clutter including road noise, music, machinery and other nearby voices, optimizing the user's ability to communicate with the device while preserving critical bandwidth. "AMSC has evaluated the leading noise cancellation and echo cancellation software products in the world today because many customers are demanding a software solution for voice-based applications. AMSC has concluded that Clarity delivers the best technology, experience and know-how," said Yoshito Kurosaka, general manager design center, AMSC. "AMSC is excited to represent Clarity in its efforts to lead the world in audio signal processing." Clarity executive vice president Fred Nussbaum added, "Clarity's objective is to become the world leader of software products that improve the quality of communications and the efficiency of voice-activated human-machine interfaces. Clarity expects to lead globally and the most effective way to accomplish that today is to partner with others who have expertise and access to markets to leverage from. AMSC is a recognized leader in the Japanese market and this is the kind of relationship that propels Clarity's presence worldwide. This is truly win-win for both Clarity and AMSC." Clarity Deploys Clarity Labs For Customers TROY, MI - Clarity LLC announced that it is deploying Clarity Labs, a services division for its customers. Clarity Labs will perform independent analysis utilizing proprietary and automatic software testing tools along with its expertise to benchmark speech recognition applications. Clarity Labs will also assist system integrators and ASR (Automated Speech Recognition) companies to evaluate relative status, strengths and weaknesses as compared to other speech recognition applications. "Clarity's customers are regularly asking how speech recognition applications stack up against each other. There is a need in the market for rapid testing of various speech engines, which was going unfulfilled," said Raymond Gunn, president and CEO of Clarity. "Clarity is not affiliated with speech engine companies and microphone suppliers, other than as a supplier of CVC software that improves the accuracy of speech recognition applications and voice quality for specific projects. With this newly established division, Clarity Labs is in a unique position to advance speech recognition evaluations, provide MOS (Mean Opinion Score) benchmarks and time to market." "Clarity has certainly developed powerful tools and know-how in this field and can respond to a customer's request to measure speech recognition performance in minutes or days using a proprietary database of voice recordings in hundreds of conditions and environments. Using traditional means, this confusing process, more often than not, takes weeks or even months, and if performed properly has been very expensive. Initially this will be offered as a service but for customers with large projects, or an interest in being more involved, we will make our tools available with a variety of training and support options," said Jim Wargnier, vice president, engineering at Clarity. "Clarity's tools and expertise will allow customers to make knowledgeable decisions about the performance of various speech recognition engines and voice quality faster, accelerating time to market," said Wargnier. "What the speech recognition industry needs today is to have successful speech applications in the market. I believe that increased adoption and retention by customers satisfied with their speech application will propel this industry exponentially. This is a smart and necessary initiative by Clarity, one that could fill a significant void in the market today," said John Kelly, publisher and editor-in-chief of Speech Technology Magazine. "Clarity has performed these services regularly as it worked through a variety of interesting, but not always correct, customer evaluation protocols for various speech engine selections," said Fred Nussbaum, executive vice president, sales and marketing, of Clarity. "Clarity looked at everything being done in the industry and are equipped to offer standardized tests, protocols and benchmarking for an industry which has no standards. Within six months, Clarity will offer independent certifications across a number of areas that will be recognized for automotive, wireless, and PC applications. In short, Clarity is offering an immediate, fee-for-service model through Clarity Labs that will measure performance quickly and automatically, providing critical information to customers on how their speech engine, microphone or application performs. The best part is that Clarity Labs has developed a model, which provides complete independence and the strictest confidence for all involved," Nussbaum continued.