DSP Concepts Partners with Kakao on Mini Speaker System

DSP Concepts, whose audio platform powers more than 50 million devices, partnered with Kakao Enterprise to enable the voice user interface in its latest Mini Hexa smart speaker.

The Mini Hexa uses DSP Concepts' TalkTo adaptable audio front end that eliminates unreferenced sound for far-field voice control in noisy and unpredictable environments. TalkTo also supports connectivity across the Mini Hexa's six microphone system and is fully compatible with Kakao Enterprise's Kakao i Voice Engine. The device's six microphones powered by TalkTo contain both voice recognition beamforming and echo cancellation.

"When we started to design the Mini Hexa we knew we needed an audio front end that could more effectively detect user commands, even when there's a TV on or kids playing, and could also support a six-microphone array in such a compact device," developers at Kakao Enterprise said in a statement. "TalkTo checks both of those boxes with the added benefit of automatically optimizing for the smart speaker application, which saved substantial time and engineering bandwidth. We're very pleased with the end result and are confident we'll see high sales volume during the holiday season and beyond."

"Our work with Kakao Enterprise reinforces the value of TalkTo from both a design flexibility and product performance perspective" said Paul Beckmann, chief technology officer and co-founder of DSP Concepts, in a statement. "Not only has the pandemic accelerated demand for voice technology, it's also raised expectations for performance. Today's consumers expect their smart speaker to hear them from multiple rooms in their home, which is why TalkTo's far-field voice detection is so valuable for OEMs."