Latest news with #ShyamGollakota
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Seattle's AI2-Backed Hearvana Launches Superhuman Hearing Capabilities For Billions Of Devices, Created By Google-Acquired Innovator
A new Seattle-based startup, Hearvana, is making waves in the audio technology industry. Founded by University of Washington computer science professor Shyam Gollakota and PhD student Malek Itani, Hearvana is developing superhuman hearing capabilities for everyday devices. These advancements are poised to be integrated into billions of earbuds, hearing aids, and smartphones, according to GeekWire. The company is being incubated by the AI2 Incubator, part of the Allen Institute for AI, which was founded by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen. The incubator was launched by AI2's founding CEO Oren Etzioni to support early-stage AI startups, according to the institute's website. The company aims to use artificial intelligence to make hearing seamless, personalized, and radically more powerful for billions of users, GeekWire reports. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Gollakota told GeekWire that Hearvana is 'creating AI breakthroughs that are shaping the future of sound,' adding that their 'AI algorithms enable on-device superhuman hearing capabilities and will be part of billions of earbuds, hearing aids, and smartphones.' Hearvana's technology focuses on real-time audio filtering, letting users choose what they want to hear while blocking out everything else. According to GeekWire, the company's AI can locate sound sources, understand their distance, and build what Gollakota and his team describe as a "sound bubble." This innovation solves a pain point nearly everyone experiences, trying to follow a conversation in a noisy restaurant or crowded event. The algorithms run directly on a device, meaning no data needs to be sent to the cloud, GeekWire reports. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Hearvana's early research, published in November by Gollakota and Itani, demonstrated headphones that adjust dynamically to noise and user focus. The team believes this approach could soon set the standard in next-generation audio technology, aligning with the broader professional audiovisual market, which is projected to reach $422 billion globally by 2029, according to AVIXA's 2024 Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis. Hearvana's founding team blends academic excellence with real-world traction. Gollakota is no stranger to startup success. According to GeekWire, he previously co-founded Sound Life Sciences, which developed smartphone-based breathing detection and was acquired by Google in 2022. He also co-founded Wavely Diagnostics, a smartphone app that detects ear infections. The startup's team brings together expertise from academia and industry. Itani, who previously interned at Meta (NASDAQ:META), worked on smart glasses during his time at the tech giant, GeekWire reports. The team's work has already drawn support from Oren Etzioni, technical director at AI2 Incubator.'Hearvana is my favorite kind of startup,' Etzioni told GeekWire. 'It addresses a familiar pain point — we all struggle to hear in noisy settings like a restaurant or a party — with deep AI technology.' Hearvana is also actively hiring as it gears up to scale its impact. In a recent LinkedIn post, Gollakota announced the company is looking for passionate candidates to help shape "the future of sound." The startup is currently recruiting for two key roles: a founding deep learning engineer and a founding acoustic simulation engineer. As Hearvana continues to develop its technology, the company may make significant contributions to the field of audio processing. By combining cutting-edge AI with practical applications, Hearvana aims to enhance the auditory experience for users worldwide. Read Next: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? MICROSOFT (MSFT): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Seattle's AI2-Backed Hearvana Launches Superhuman Hearing Capabilities For Billions Of Devices, Created By Google-Acquired Innovator originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Express Tribune
20-05-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
The future is now:The future is now: PHD students develop headphones capable of translating languages in real-time
Listen to article Researchers at the University of Washington have unveiled a prototype headphone system that could transform global communication by translating multiple languages and speakers in real time. Dubbed Spatial Speech Translation, the system uses commercially available components to capture and translate ambient conversations. The device can detect and isolate several voices in a noisy environment, translate each speaker's language simultaneously, and relay the result back to the listener within seconds. Developed by the university's Mobile Intelligence Lab, the prototype combines Sony SH-100XM4 noise-cancelling headphones with Sonic Presence SP15C binaural microphones—devices that record audio in a way that mimics human hearing. Breaking Language Barriers: Real-Time Multilingual Translation Headphones Researchers at the University of Washington have developed prototype headphones capable of real-time translation of multiple speakers in various languages. Utilizing spatial audio and AI, these headphones… — Chubby♨️ (@kimmonismus) May 19, 2025 These microphones send audio feeds to a connected mobile device, where neural network models process and translate the input. The translated dialogue is then delivered to the user through the same headphones with a slight delay. Tests show that users preferred a delay of 3–4 seconds to minimise errors, though the system can respond in as little as 1–2 seconds. 'Our algorithms work a little like radar,' said lead researcher Tuochao Chen, a doctoral student at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. 'They scan the environment in 360 degrees, continuously identifying whether there's one speaker or several, and adapting in real time," he added. The system currently supports Spanish, French, and German, but the team hopes to expand its capabilities to around 100 languages. It also adjusts dynamically as the user turns their head or moves through a space, maintaining focus on individual conversations. Senior researcher Shyam Gollakota said the translation tool is part of a broader effort to 'break down language barriers between cultures.' The team has also made the software powering the device open source, encouraging further innovation. While still in the prototype stage, the technology represents a significant step forward in real-time multilingual communication. If fully developed, the system could have wide-ranging applications in travel, diplomacy, and international business. A demonstration video of the headphones in use is available on the University of Washington's official website, with all relevant details of the technology also available on a separate webpage.
Geek Wire
13-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
AI startup led by UW computer science whiz enables ‘superhuman hearing capabilities'
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . Shyam Gollakota. A new stealthy Seattle startup is taking sound technology to a whole new dimension. Hearvana was just founded by University of Washington computer science researchers. Shyam Gollakota, co-founder of Hearvana, told GeekWire that the company is 'creating AI breakthroughs that are shaping the future of sound.' 'Our AI algorithms enable on-device superhuman hearing capabilities and will be part of billions of earbuds, hearing aids and smartphones,' he said. 'It is an exciting time.' Gollakota, a renowned tech inventor and researcher, said the company is developing unique AI models to help people seamlessly choose what they want to hear in real-time. Part of the company's secret sauce is its ability to quickly process audio on a device without requiring large amounts of power or compute on a device. Hearvana is being incubated at the AI2 Incubator in Seattle. 'Hearvana is my favorite kind of startup as it addresses a familiar pain point — we all struggle to hear in noisy settings like a restaurant or a party — with deep AI technology,' said Oren Etzioni, technical director and partner at AI2 Incubator. Etzioni, the former CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, called Gollakota a 'world-class computer scientist.' Hearvana co-founder Malek Itani. Gollakota has a track record of turning research into startups. He previously co-founded Sound Life Sciences, a UW spinout that developed an app to monitor breathing that was acquired by Google in 2022. He's also the co-founder of Wavely Diagnostics, which uses a smartphone app to detect ear infections. Gollakota last year won a $100,000 award as one of six researchers honored as part of this year's Infosys Prize. His research focuses on wireless tech, battery-free devices, WiFi sensing and imaging, medical diagnostics via smartphones, and more. Malek Itani, a research assistant and PhD student at the UW's computer science school, is a co-founder of Hearvana. Itani was an intern at Meta, where he worked on smart glasses. Gollakota and Itani published research last year on a headphone prototype that uses AI to create a 'sound bubble' and can learn the distance for each sound source in a room.
Geek Wire
13-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
AI translation startup led by UW computer science whiz enables ‘superhuman hearing capabilities'
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . Shyam Gollakota. A new Seattle startup is taking speech translation to a whole new dimension. Hearvana, founded this year by University of Washington computer science researchers, translates speech from multiple speakers in real time — while preserving their spatial positions and vocal identities. The idea is that you could be in a noisy setting surrounded by people speaking different languages, and still understand what's being said. 'Our system transforms your entire auditory space into your own language, preserving the unique voices of speakers, their 3D spatial positions, and doing it all in real time, even as people move,' Shyam Gollakota, co-founder of Hearvana, wrote on LinkedIn. Gollakota, a leading inventor who heads up the UW's Mobile Intelligence Lab, told GeekWire that the company is 'creating AI breakthroughs that are shaping the future of sound.' 'Our AI algorithms enable on-device superhuman hearing capabilities and will be part of billions of earbuds, hearing aids and smartphones,' he said. 'It is an exciting time.' Hearvana says its translation features go beyond what's available on existing wearables such as Meta's Ray-Ban glasses. The startup's underlying tech — dubbed 'spatial speech translation' — was detailed in a research paper published last month. The study tested translation from French, German, and Spanish into English. It outperformed baseline systems in user studies and participants praised its translation accuracy, speaker fidelity, and spatial realism. Hearvana is being incubated at the AI2 Incubator in Seattle. 'Hearvana is my favorite kind of startup as it addresses a familiar pain point — we all struggle to hear in noisy settings like a restaurant or a party — with deep AI technology,' said Oren Etzioni, technical director and partner at AI2 Incubator. Etzioni, the former CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, called Gollakota a 'world-class computer scientist.' Hearvana co-founder Malek Itani. Gollakota has a track record of turning research into startups. He previously co-founded Sound Life Sciences, a UW spinout that developed an app to monitor breathing that was acquired by Google in 2022. He's also the co-founder of Wavely Diagnostics, which uses a smartphone app to detect ear infections. Gollakota last year won a $100,000 award as one of six researchers honored as part of this year's Infosys Prize. His research focuses on wireless tech, battery-free devices, WiFi sensing and imaging, medical diagnostics via smartphones, and more. Malek Itani, a research assistant and PhD student at the UW's computer science school, is a co-founder of Hearvana. Itani was an intern at Meta, where he worked on smart glasses. Gollakota and Itani published research last year on a headphone prototype that uses AI to create a 'sound bubble' and can learn the distance for each sound source in a room.
Digital Trends
10-05-2025
- Digital Trends
AI headphones driven by Apple M2 can translate multiple speakers at once
Table of Contents Table of Contents How does multi-speaker translation work? How does it all come to life? Google's Pixel Buds wireless earbuds have offered a fantastic real-time translation facility for a while now. Over the past few years, brands such as Timkettle have offered similar earbuds for business customers. However, all these solutions can only handle one audio stream at once for translation. The folks over at the University of Washington (UW) have developed something truly remarkable in the form of AI-driven headphones that can translate the voice of multiple speakers at once. Think of it as a polyglot in a crowded bar, able to understand the speech of people around him, speaking in different languages, all at once. Recommended Videos The team is referring to their innovation as a Spatial Speech Translation, and it comes to life courtesy of binaural headphones. For the unaware, binaural audio tries to simulate sound effects just the way human ears perceive them naturally. To record them, mics are placed on a dummy head, apart at the same distance as human ears on each side. The approach is crucial because our ears don't only hear sound, but they also help us gauge the direction of its origin. The overarching goal is to produce a natural soundstage with a stereo effect that can provide a live concert-like feel. Or, in the modern context, spatial listening. The work comes courtesy of a team led by Professor Shyam Gollakota, whose prolific repertoire includes apps that can put underwater GPS on smartwatches, turning beetles into photographers, brain implants that can interact with electronics, a mobile app that can hear infection, and more. How does multi-speaker translation work? 'For the first time, we've preserved the sound of each person's voice and the direction it's coming from,' explains Gollakota, currently a professor at the institute's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The team likens their stack to a radar, as it kicks into action by identifying the number of speakers in the surroundings, and updating that number in real-time as people move in and out of the listening range. The whole approach works on-device and doesn't involve sending user voice streams to a cloud server for translation. Yay, privacy! In addition to speech translation, the kit also 'maintains the expressive qualities and volume of each speaker's voice.' Morever, directional and audio intensity adjustments are made as the speaker moves across the room. Interestingly, Apple is also said to be developing a system that allows the AirPods to translate audio in real-time. How does it all come to life? The UW team tested the AI headphones' translation capabilities in nearly a dozen outdoor and indoor settings. As far as performance goes, the system can take, process, and produce translated audio within 2-4 seconds. Test participants appeared to prefer a delay worth 3-4 seconds, but the team is working to speed up the translation pipeline. So far, the team has only tested Spanish, German, and French language translations, but they're hopeful of adding more to the pool. Technically, they condensed blind source separation, localization, real-time expressive translation, and binaural rendering into a single flow, which is quite an impressive feat. As far as the system goes, the team developed a speech translation model capable of running in real-time on an Apple M2 silicon, achieving real-time inference. Audio duties were handled by a pair of Sony's noise-cancelling WH-1000XM4 headphones and a Sonic Presence SP15C binaural USB mic. And here's the best part. 'The code for the proof-of-concept device is available for others to build on,' says the institution's press release. That means the scientific and open-source tinkering community can learn and base more advanced projects on the foundations laid out by the UW team.
