Speech and language technology development for next generation interactive voice services

Automated speech enabled human-computer interfaces have become essential for the competiveness of many Canadian industries. The demand for more natural, simplified, and low cost user interfaces has made voice enabling of telecommunications, automotive, and consumer electronics devices nearly ubiquitous. Commercially available automated intelligent assistants have been developed to guide customers through problem solving scenarios. The demand for high performance in these services has increased the pressure to improve the quality and reduce the costs associated with the underlying speech and language technology. However, research and development in the areas of automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and dialog systems requires specialized expertise and significant linguistic resources. Nuance Communications is a world leader in providing speech based interactive services and has a substantial presence in Canada. The Telecommunications Group at McGill University is one of the top centers in North America for research in communications and speech and signal processing. These Mitacs internships will leverage the combined expertise of McGill and Nuance researchers to enable the Canadian driven development of a new generation of speech and language products and services.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Richard Rose

Student:

Vikrant Tomar, Sina Hamidi Ghalejegh & Aanchan Mohan

Partner:

Nuance Communications Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

McGill University