Company
Portfolio Data
Back to Company SearchWEVOICE, Inc.
UEI: N/A
Number of Employees: 3
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: Yes
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
SBIR/STTR Involvement
Year of first award: 2008
3
Phase I Awards
3
Phase II Awards
100%
Conversion Rate
$296,995
Phase I Dollars
$1,949,543
Phase II Dollars
$2,246,538
Total Awarded
Awards
A ZigBee-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Continuous Sound and Noise Level Monitoring on the ISS
Amount: $749,982 Topic: O3.06
The International Space Station (ISS) needs to keep quiet tomaintain a healthy and habitable environment in which crewmemberscan perform long-term and uninterrupted scientific researchunder microgravity conditions. Acoustic survey is now performedonce every two months using hand-held devices at 60 locationson the ISS. It takes a significant amount of precious crew timeand the sporadic monitoring program is not adequate. NASA hasdefined a need for an automated, continuous acoustic monitoringsystem that is efficient in power consumption (long battery life),accurate, highly integrated, wireless connected, scalable,small and lightweight. WeVoice Inc.\ proposed to develop aZigBee-based wireless sensor network for acoustic monitoringto meet the challenges. During Phase I of this projects, threeessential capabilities were developed, tested, and validated:* The design of a data collection subsystem that integratesmeasurement microphones and the feasibility of using thestate-of-the-art MEMS microphones.* The development of accurate and computationally efficientsignal processing algorithms for acoustic frequency(octave, 1/3-octave, and narrowband) analysis and soundlevel measurement.* The construction of a ZigBee network for data communication.In addition, the WeVoice SBIR research team has started workingon flight-like devices. Clear directions for improvement wereestablished for the Phase II efforts that may follow. The Phase IIprogram focuses on system integration and optimization,software implementation, and graphical user interface development.An in-situ calibration plan will be suggested and a demonstrablesystem will be delivered to NASA for testing in a ground facilityat the completion of the Phase II contract. So the expected TRLthen is expected to reach 6.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2012
NASA
A ZigBee-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Continuous Sound and Noise Level Monitoring on the ISS
Amount: $97,055 Topic: O3.06
Acoustic survey is now performed using hand-held devices once every two months on the international space station (ISS). It takes quite a lot of precious crew time and the sporadic monitoring program is not adequate.This Phase I proposal is concerned with developing an automated sound level and noise exposure monitoring system running on a ZigBee-compliant wireless sensor network. In the proposed research, we will focus ona preliminary design of the monitoring terminal that integrates the functionalities of microphone, data sampling, and signal processing along with data communication through a ZigBee wireless channel. Sufficient compliance of the developed sound level meter and noise dosimeter with the related ANSI standards will be tested and demonstrated. Thisplan takes advantage of our broad knowledge in acoustic signal processing and ZigBee wireless sensor network, and will benefit from our experienceand skills with the development of embedded digital signal processing systems using either FPGA (field programmable gate array) or DSP (digital signal processor). The Phase I effort will provide a foundation for prototype design to be conducted in Phase II.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2011
NASA
Superior Speech Acquisition and Robust Automatic Speech Recognition for Integrated Spacesuit Audio Systems
Amount: $599,997 Topic: O3.02
Astronauts suffer from poor dexterity of their hands due to the clumsy spacesuit gloves during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) operations and NASA has had a widely recognized but unmet need for novel human machine interface technologies to facilitate data entry, communications, and robots or intelligent systems control. The objective of this research project is to develop a speech human interface that can offer both crewmember usability and system operational efficiency. But loud noise and strong reverberation inside spacesuits make automatic speech recognition (ASR) for such an interface a very challenging problem. In Phase I, the feasibility of using WeVoice proprietary microphone array signal processing and robust ASR technologies was validated. In particular, it was found that novel multichannel noise reduction produces larger gain in SNR than conventional beamforming but the latter is more preferable as far as ASR is concerned. In addition, it was confirmed that the model adaptation algorithm can make an ASR system more robust inside spacesuits. An arithmetic complexity model for ASR was developed. It can direct the decision as to whether a specified speech interface is sufficiently efficient to be possibly implemented with a wearable system. Phase II will analyze and minimize the scientific and engineering uncertainties identified during Phase I. Furthermore, a voice command interface for future generations of a suit's processing system is proposed to be developed on DSP chips. The system should be ready for testing and use by NASA suited crewmembers at the end of Phase II.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2010
NASA
Superior Speech Acquisition and Robust Automatic Speech Recognition for Integrated Spacesuit Audio Systems
Amount: $99,940 Topic: O3.02
Astronauts suffer from poor dexterity of their hands due to the clumsy spacesuit gloves during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) operations and NASA has had a widely recognized but unmet need for novel human machine interface technologies to facilitate data entry, communications, and robots or intelligent systems control. In this proposed Phase I research, WeVoice, Inc., plans to design, to begin the implementation of, and to evaluate a speech human interface system. Loud noise and strong reverberation inside spacesuits make automatic speech recognition (ASR) for such an interface a very challenging problem. WeVoice proprietary microphone array signal processing algorithms for speech acquisition will be taken advantage of. Pros and cons of beamforming vs. multichannel noise reduction for ASR will be assessed and recommendations for the best front-end technique will be established. Using two ASR programs (one based on HTK and the other in C/C++) that were previously developed at WeVoice, Inc., a number of robust methods (ranging from feature transformation and normalization to environmental adaptation) will be validated. In addition, the feasibility of using throat vibration microphones will be explored. The Phase I research is also concerned with the compromise of ASR accuracy and system complexity. A comparative study will be undertaken between two system implementation structures, namely wearable and distributed systems. This effort will form a foundation for prototype design to be conducted in Phase II.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2009
NASA
Microphone Array Signal Processing and Active Noise Control for the In-Helmet Speech Communication
Amount: $599,564 Topic: O3.02
For in-helmet voice communication, the currently used Communication-Cap-based Audio (CCA) systems have a number of recognized logistical issues and inconveniences that cannot be resolved with incremental improvements to the basic design of the CCA systems. The objective of this research project is to develop an Integrated Spacesuit Audio (ISA) system that can possess similar performance to a CCA while offering users inherent comfort and ease of use. In Phase I, the feasibility of using microphone array beamforming or multichannel noise reduction plus a single-channel postfilter to combat a variety of types of in-helmet noise was validated. Comparative simulations indicated that novel multichannel noise reduction is more practical and more effective than traditional microphone array beamforming for ISA systems. Phase II will pursue advanced development and prototype of the proposed technical solution for the ISA system. Directions for improvement that were established in Phase I will be carefully followed, subjective evaluation will be carried out, and the ISA designs will be further optimized. Finally a real-time demo system will be built using either DSP or FPGA. It should be ready for testing and use by NASA at the end of Phase II.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2009
NASA
Microphone Array Signal Processing and Active Noise Control for the In-Helmet Speech Communication
Amount: $100,000 Topic: O3.02
Widely varying working conditions of a space shuttle and the special design of an astronaut's spacesuit form an extreme acoustic environment that imposes unique challenges for capturing and transmitting speech communications to and from a crewmember. NASA has a serious unmet need for innovative voice communication systems and technologies, which provide enhanced speech intelligibility and quality, comfort and ease of use, and adequate hearing protection. This project will build on knowledge and recent breakthroughs produced by painstaking research at Bell Labs and WeVoice, Inc., in acoustic and speech signal processing for hands-free communications. It brings together the state-of-the-art and patent-pending techniques in microphone arrays, speech enhancement, and active noise control, and proposes an integrated, more reliable solution for combating high-level noise and strong reverberation. This proof-of-feasibility research will focus primarily on whether the proposed techniques that were previously developed for applications in room acoustic environments can perform as well as or better than we expect in an in-helmet acoustic environment. In addition, this research will use informal listening tests to demonstrate performance improvement and will design a subjective program that can be readily executed in Phase II to rigorously evaluate the overall system performance. The Phase I effort will provide a foundation for prototype design to be conducted in Phase II.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2008
NASA