MIPS Project Detail:

OmniSpeech LLC

Speech vs. Noise using Articulatory Information

Back to Projects Home

Company

OmniSpeech LLC

College Park

Prince George’s

County

, Maryland

Founded:

2009

Website:

https://www.omni-speech.com/

Company Description:

OmniSpeech LLC develops speech extraction technology for cellular and similar communications. The company has developed a method for extracting speech from noise, making communications such as cell phone conversations clear, even in environments such as high wind or large crowds. The technology can be applied to a wide range of audio and voice-oriented commercial devices, including hearing aids.

MIPS Project

Speech vs. Noise using Articulatory Information

Project #

4724

|

MIPS Round

47 |

Starting Date:

Feb 2011

MIPS Project Challenge:
OmniSpeech sought to improve the performance of the company’s speech segregation algorithm that pulls speech out of background noise.

Project Scope:
Through this MIPS project, researchers investigated whether or not acoustically derived articulatory parameters, as well as other acoustic measures, can be used to determine all of the spectro-temporal regions of a corrupted speech signal that contains speech. By the end of the MIPS project, they planned to modify the speech extraction algorithm with a more accurate voice activity detector.

MIPS is a wonderful program, especially for early stage companies. Our MIPS project has enabled us to address an issue that is really important for our technology.

Carol Espy-Wilson, Founder and CEO, OmniSpeech

Results:

In 2012, OmniSpeech raised investment of up to $2 million from private investors. The company also won a $495,000 Phase 2 SBIR from the National Science Foundation. In September, 2017, the company announced that its OmniClearTM technology was included in the latest Alcatel MOVE TIME smart watch.

Additional Mtech/UMD Programs Utilized:
University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition, VentureAccelerator, Technology Advancement Program (TAP) incubator

OmniSpeech won the high technology category and $25,000, as well as a $15,000 Warren Citrin Social Impact Award in the 2010 University of Maryland $75K Business Plan Competition. The company also won the grand prize in the Rockville Economic Development Inc. (REDI) StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition, receiving $10,000 from EagleBank, a $10,000 advertising package from Comcast Spotlight, one year of virtual incubator membership from the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, and nine months of a customized virtual office solution from Intelligent Office. OmniSpeech also won the 2010 $50,000 SAIC-VentureAccelerator Competition.