VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Wavemakers has received a $4.4 million investment commitment from Technology Partnerships Canada for the Vancouver, B.C., company’s “OnTarget” initiative to develop speech recognition by electronic devices in areas with background noise interference.
Building on its ClearStream product, Wavemakers said OnTarget’s goal is the ability to extract any designated individual’s speech out of background voices, music, and other transient, variable and loud noise by mimicking the way the brain uses neural networks to perform this complex function automatically.
“The markets for voice user interfaces are huge, including in-car communication, household appliances, cell phones, hand-held computers and many other consumer electronics. We are extremely pleased that the Canadian government is investing in this groundbreaking work,” said Peter van der Gracht, chair and chief executive officer of Wavemakers.
Technology Partnerships Canada is a fund, established in 1996, to promote Canada’s objectives of increasing economic growth, creating jobs and wealth and supporting sustainable development. Wavemakers announced the TPC investment December 18.
