voice INTER connect GmbH

vicCONTROL go stamp is an extension module, which can be used to upgrade your product with a voice control.

Unlike Amazon Alexa or Google Home, the local voice control takes place without an internet connection. Therefore, your speech data remains protected and are not stored on central servers. Voice control in private homes (e.g. simple building automation functions) is also safer.

Our offline voice control has the following advantages:

• data privacy by design
• no internet connection required
• high reliability
• realtime recognition due to local processing
• long term availability
• suitable for industrial environments (i.e. temperature, robustness)

Additionally, we are offering the offline voice control in more than 30 languages in industry grade quality.

Product Features

• Voice control for technical devices
• Small, low-cost SoC module, designed for serial production
• Flexible, speaker-independent vocabulary
• Currently available in 30 languages
• Excellent robustness even in noisy environments
• Acoustic feedback
• Digital inputs and outputs, which can be controlled via voice
• Serial protocol
• Wake word functionality

Areas of Application

• Intelligent home automation
• Machine and device control
• Geriatric care and rehabilitation technology
• Fast media access
• Interaction with consumer and kitchen appliances
• Non-contact operation of devices in hard-to-reach or sterile environments

Offline Voice Control for ARM and X86 Platforms

vicCONTROL industrial is the most powerful member within our vicCONTROL voice control family. It's available for ARM- and X86-based platforms under Linux, Windows, Android and iOS.. Due to the increased computing power of  embedded processors and their widespread use in device and machine control, vicCONTROL industrial can be used directly without additional processor hardware.

vicCONTROL industrial works without an Internet connection, since the voice control is implemented locally on the processor. It is therefore particularly suitable for applications that must function without Internet access or have special data protection requirements (privacy by design).

vicCONTROL industrial recognizes natural speech, comparable to cloud-based speech recognizers such as Amazon's Alexa or Google Speech-to-Text Services. Additionally it is available in 30 national languages and enables semantic understanding of what is being said using the latest machine-learning / artificial intelligence technologies.

Development kits are available forARM- and x86-compatible platforms. In addition, you get access to our easy-to-use web tool vicSDC, which allows you to create your personal speech dialogs.

An interface based on the IoT or web standards MQTT / JSON is available for communication between voice control and your application.

Product Features

• Voice Control software for ARM- / x86-compatible platforms under Linux, Windows, Android and iOS
• Industry-proven quality in 30 national languages
• NLU-capable voice control
• Creation of statistical and semantical models for offline operation via state-of-the-art ML and AI technologies
• Convenient connection to applications using MQTT and JSON APIs
• Semantically evaluated commands are passed on in a structured manner
• Freely selectable wake words
• Development kits for ARMv7 and x86-compatible platforms available
• Delivery of a development kit includes an access to our web tool vicSDC for comfortable and easy speech dialog creation

Further Functionalities

• All voice commands are available at the same time
• Extraction of multiple semantic parameters from a single command, regardless of their sequence
• Qualitative evaluation and prioritisation of recognition results
• Acoustic feedback through freely definable audio prompts
• Multiple activation modes by voice or external trigger

Application Areas

• Extension of GUIs with voice control
• Control of machines and appliances
• Operating and monitoring of medical systems
• Intuitive input in rehabilitation technology
• Natural collaboration with robots and in AR applications
• Self-explanatory user interfaces

Technical Data

• Runtime: from 6 MByte
• Speech model: max. 6.3 MByte per language
• Application-specific language resources:
  • approx. 10 kByte simple command control with 10 words
  • approx. 500 kByte extensive control with 1000 words
• RAM: from 16 MByte (depending on application)
• Computing requirements: from 400 MIPS fo real-time processing

A robust, distant speech acquisition is a requirement for the use of voice control in the Smart Home, voice assistants or voice-controlled user interfaces of industrial plants and machines.
voice INTER connect offers vicDIVA (Distant Voice Acquisition Solution) especially for this use case - a solution for recording voice in room. This makes it possible to control devices several meters away by voice, even with simultaneous noise or several speakers.
The vicDIVA development kit offers the possibility of configuring beamforming procedures individually and testing them for a specific application. vicDIVA consists of a customized microphone array with up to 7 microphones and status LEDs, the hardware module vicSBM for processing up to 7 microphone signals, and a host platform (Raspberry PI 3) for application development, which supplies power to the vicSBM and provides the cleaned audio signal over an audio interface for your application. An example application on the Raspberry PI allows the subjective evaluation of the output signal of the beamformer via connected headphones and the configuration of the beamforming algorithms on the vicSBM via the console. For evaluation purposes, the kit is provided with a circular 7-microphone array.

Product Features

• Development kit for evaluation of beamforming algorithms and individual microphone arrays
• Robust distant voice acquisition
• Suppression of room influences such as reverberation and noise
• Positioning and display of the speaker
• Tracking a speaker in the room

Applications

• Voice-controlled devices and industrial machines
• Voice control in Smart Homes
• Speech assistants
• Intercom systems in industrial environments
• Video conferencing
• Acoustic monitoring of rooms

Intercom Module for Hands-free Communication

Thanks to patented algorithms for acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) and noise reduction (NR), the vicCOM 2 audio processing modules enable excellent audio quality and speech intelligibility at the highest level – even under difficult environmental conditions.

The modules can be integrated as a component into customer-specific layouts or into existing devices. The scope of delivery includes signal processing software and analog audio connections.

Product Features

• Audio processing module for hands-free communication
• Assembly board with edge contacts
• Acoustic echo cancellation (AEC)
• Noise reduction (NR)
• Intelligent loss control
• Signal conditioning for microphone and loudspeaker signals
• Use and management of different parameter sets
• Parameters can be set during operation
• HD audio
• Recording and playback of audio files
• Software and parameters can be updated

Applications

• Intercom
• Building and industrial communication
• Hands-free kits for cars, commercial and emergency vehicles
• Conference systems
• Hands-free kits in emergency phones

Create Your Own Voice Commands with vicCONTROL go kit

The development kit vicCONTROL go kit offers you the possibility to individually configure and test a local voice control in a short time. The kit consists of a development platform and the vicCONTROL Designer software. This includes a freely configurable sequence control for the combination of powerful speaker-independent speech recognition with an audio output. You can control your devices with each 10 digital inputs and outputs.
As soon as you have configured your individual voice control, you can transfer it to our extension board vicCONTROL go stamp for technical devices.

Product Features

• Development kit for the voice control of technical devices
• Software vicCONTROL Designer: Graphic configuration tool
• Flexible, speaker-independent vocabulary
• Minimal integration effort
• Using with (DECT) headset or hands-free
• Excellent robustness even in noisy environments
• Configurable sequence control
• Available in 30 national languages
• Acoustic feedback
• Digital inputs and outputs can be controlled via voice
• Adaptable serial interfaces

Configurate Speech Dialogs Individually

The configuration tool vicCONTROL Designer is Windows-compatible and provides these functionalities:

• Configuration of speech recognizer and sequence control
• Preview fo created configuration
• Permanent transmission of configurations to the customer´s hardware platform or vicCONTROL go stamp
• Testing of Configurations

Application Areas

• Intelligent home automation
• Machine and device control
• Geriatric care and rehabilitation technology
• Fast media access
• Interaction with consumer devices
• Non-contact operation of devices in hard-to-reach or sterile environments