Sensory, Inc.
Sensory, Inc. is a Santa Clara based company which develops and makes speech technologies on both hardware (Integrated Circuit - IC or "chip") and software platforms for consumer products, offering IC and software-only solutions for speech recognition, speech synthesis, speaker verification, music synthesis.[1][2]
Sensory’s products are used in consumer electronics applications including mobile, automotive, Bluetooth devices, toys, and various home electronics. To date, more than 40 mobile handsets, tablets, and wearables have shipped with Sensory’s TrulyHandsfree in volumes of hundreds of millions.
History
Sensory, Inc. was founded in 1994, originally as Sensory Circuits, by Forrest Mozer, Mike Mozer and Todd Mozer. The three had also co-founded ESS Technology years earlier. In 1999 Sensory acquired Fluent Speech Technologies, which was formed and started by a group of professors out of the Oregon Graduate Institute (formerly OGI, now OHSU). Fluent Speech Technologies developed high performance embedded speech engines, the technology from this acquisition is now the core technology used throughout Sensory’s chip and software line.[3]
Company timeline
- 1994 – Founded
- 1995 – Introduces the RSC 164 - first commercially successful speech recognition IC
- 1998 – Introduces first speaker verification IC
- 2000 – Acquires Oregon based Fluent-Speech Technologies
- 2002 – Acquires Texas Instruments line of speech output ICs (the SC series)
- 2007 – Introduces first Voice User Interface for Bluetooth silicon (CSR BC-5) - BlueGenie
- 2008 - Introduced “timeset” technology for speaking the time to set alarms on clocks
- 2009 – Introduced world’s smallest text to speech system (TTS) and Truly HandsfreeTM Triggers
- 2010 – Introduced the NLP-5x – First Natural Language Voice Processor and TrulyHandsfree Tiggers in SDKs for Android, iOS, Linux and Windows
- 2011 – Introduced TrulyHandsfree Voice Control with enhanced accuracy and command and control
- 2012 – Partnered with Tensilica to offer complete speech recognition subsystem; introduced Speaker Verification and Speaker Identification for mobile phones and other consumer electronics; TrulyHandsfree integrated into Samsung’s Galaxy S3 along with S2 and Note
- 2013 – Partnered with Conexant to offer far-field voice triggers and Ceva and Wolfson to offer ultra-low power solution for Truly HandsfreeTM Voice Control; introduced TrulyHandsfree Voice Control 3.0 in SDKs and Tensilica’s ultra-low power solution; integrated in Samsung Galaxy S4
- 2014 – Announced new initiative in Vision; added LG and Motorola as customers; received the 2014 Global Mobile Award for Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (judges commented, "A big advance for the wearables market, this offers many benefits for consumers, increasing uptake and usage of many mobile apps, driving revenue for operators and content providers.")[4]
Technology and products
Sensory develops and makes speech technologies on both hardware (Integrated Circuit - IC or "chip") and software platforms. Sensory's RSC-164 IC (Integrated Circuit or "chip") was used on NASA’s Mars Polar Lander in the Mars Microphone on the Lander.[5] Speech Synthesis SC-6x chips – acquired some speech synthesis technology from Texas Instruments.[6]
- Current hardware:
NLP-5x chip: Capable of handling complex grammars and context-specific natural language recognition. Software also includes TTS, Truly HandsfreeTM Voice Contril, MP3 and MIDI playback and MUCH more. New hardware includes multi-channel 16-bit ADC and DAC, LCD and motor control logic, hardware interfaces (USB, SPI, UART, etc.), OTP memory (for fast and flexible programming), general purpose I/O and memory bus, and much more.
RSC-4x series processors: The industry standard in programmable, flexible, fully integrated speech recognition processors for cost sensitive applications. The chips can provide speaker-independent (SI) and speaker-dependent (SD) discrete word recognition, speaker verification (SV), speech and music synthesis, as well as full-product control. All are supported by best-in-class demo units, compilers and development tools.
- Current software
FluentSoft: Medium vocabulary speech recognition engine capable of recognizing thousands of utterances, as well as word and phrase spotting, Truly Handsfree Voice Control, Speaker Verification and Speaker Identification with user defined passphrases. Includes dynamic vocabulary generation and a micro footprint TTS engine. FluentSoft is available as SDKs for Android, iOS, Linux, QNX and Windows as well as deeply embedded implementations running on IP cores and chips from several providers.
BlueGenie: Embedded software for CSR’s BlueCore5 chips allows manufacturers of Bluetooth Headsets and Hands-Free Car Kits to implement full voice control with natural sounding speech prompts and Caller ID names in their solutions. Leveraging reliable and noise robust TrulyHandsfree voice triggers, BlueGenie dramatically improves safety and features while also reducing user confusion at the same time. Available both as a Software Development Kit (SDK), and as pre-configured solutions for mono and stereo headsets and car kits.
References
- ↑ "Sensory, Inc.". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
- ↑ TCZ Webmaster (21 August 2006). "Sensory Inc.". The Commodore Zone. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
- ↑ Rae-Dupree, Janet (2 January 2005). "Smaller, cheaper voice chip speaks loudly for future uses". San Jose Business Journal. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
- ↑ "Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough".
- ↑ "Mars Microphone". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
- ↑ Quan, Margaret (14 June 2001). "TI will exit dedicated speech-synthesis chips, transfer products to Sensory". EE Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012.