Motorola Solutions Invests in VocalZoom
Motorola Solutions has invested in speech solution provider VocalZoom through its investment arm Motorola Solutions Venture Capital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
VocalZoom has developed an optoelectronic microphone able to substantially enhance a speaker’s voice over background noise. The technology creates a virtual cube in space, sensing sound from only within the cube. This enables speech enhancement and precise speaker isolation to enable mass usage of voice-driven applications for devices such as radios and smartphones.
"VocalZoom's optical microphone is the only technology of its kind that is not affected by any background noise and has the potential to provide disruptive voice clarity in any condition," said VocalZoom's chairman, Yechiel Kurtz, in a statement. "We are excited with the partnership with Motorola Solutions, which provides us with new opportunities in a large and strategic market."
Motorola Solutions’ investment in VocalZoom is part of its strategy to advance mission-critical communications by connecting public safety and commercial customers with real-time data and intelligence. The company believes VocalZoom's technology can establish a new frontier in voice commands and sharing of intelligence with public safety personnel through devices, even in a noisy environment or in the heat of the moment with a perpetrator.
"VocalZoom has the potential to be the difference of whether a firefighter can communicate at a dangerous fire scene or if a transportation or utility worker can give or receive information in a noisy work environment," said Paul Steinberg, chief technology officer at Motorola Solutions, in a statement. "For police officers, for example, turning their heads to communicate can be the difference between life and death for them or the people they are protecting, or the difference between whether a criminal is apprehended or escapes."
Other VocalZoom investors in this series of funding include 3M, OurCrowd, and FuelTrek.
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