Roku Applies Speech Recognition to Boost Movie Audio

As part of its recent OS 11 release, TV streaming services provider Roku has deployed speech recognition technology to boost the audio in movies and television.

The new Roku OS 11 incorporates an automatic speech clarity feature that Roku says can detect when people are talking and raise the volume only of the dialogue portion without making the rest of the audio louder. It uses artificial intelligence to differentiate between humans voices and other sounds.

Roku OS 11 also includes Sound Modes, an interface that lets Roku viewers adjust the audio controls for different kinds of content, and an expanded roster of languages supported by its voice assistant for keyboard control, voice search, and logins and passwords. OS 11 adds Spanish, German, and Portuguese voice keyboards to supplement the English version it launched last year.