Voiceitt Validates Voice AI for Deaf Users

Voiceitt, a provider of speech recognition technology for non-standard speech, has completed a joint pilot validating its inclusive voice artificial intelligence with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

Voiceitt's technology was built with and for people with non-standard speech, and its unique speech database includes speech recordings from people with impaired and atypical speech to augment and improve Voiceitt's voice AI models. Voiceitt further improves its recognition of non-standard speech by providing personalized recognition for individuals who provide a minimum of 200 recordings.

The pilot was facilitated by Newlab, a deep tech venture platform. Its  goal was to demonstrate an improved accuracy with Voiceitt's speech recognition with deaf accented speech and provide qualitative insights to evaluate impactful use cases for voice AI among deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

"The Voiceitt pilot is directly in line with the goals of the studio to pilot with startups working on impact-driven advancements in language services. The success of the pilot sets the stage for strategic collaborations that can have a far-reaching impact on customers and the community at large," Jamie LePinnet, the director at Newlab who facilitated the pilot, said in a statement.

"Speech recognition technology is incredibly valuable for the deaf community," said Tyler Pujeda, a heart researcher in Boston who participated in the pilot and is now an active user of Voiceitt's application. "New inclusive products can help us feel listened to and understood."

The pilot also analyzed quantitative results of Voiceitt's speech recognition software and compared Voiceitt with the industry's leading providers of speech recognition, measuring accuracy using the word error rate (WER) metric. Deaf users in this pilot obtained an average of 8 percent WER (more than 90 percent accuracy) after training the system with 200 recordings. Voiceitt's system also achieved higher accuracy than leading industry software for deaf speakers with non-standard speech who participated in the pilot, even with no training at all.

Rachel Levy, a speech pathologist and Voiceitt's customer success manager, emphasized that while Voiceitt has historically focused on individuals with a diverse range of speech impairments, this pilot offered a unique opportunity. "This pilot validated Voiceitt's compatibility and increased accuracy with deaf voices," Levy said in a statement. "However, its greatest impact resulted from the feedback and insights collected from pilot participants, which has directly impacted the development of solutions geared toward the needs and preferences of the deaf community and the other communities we serve and support."