Lip-reading software gives 'voice to the voiceless'

The Speech Recognition Application for the Voice Impaired (SRAVI) has already been licenced by the

Royal Preston Hospital in England. The technology, which sees a user mouth words into a

smartphone’s camera for the SRAVI app to speak them aloud, will be used to help communicate with

those who are voice impaired such as tracheostomised patients.

The development of the software is particularly timely as a large number of ventilated patients

required a tracheostomy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Liopa’s Chief Operating Officer, Richard McConnell said the company had received funding through

Innovate UK and Invest NI which has helped support its extensive R&D programme.

As the pandemic impacted the amount of venture capital investment available, Liopa also received

support from the Government’s Future Fund, which allowed the company to maintain its business

plan.

Administered by the British Business Bank, the Future Fund provided support to UK businesses

affected by Covid-19 that were otherwise unable to access other government business support

programmes because they were either pre-revenue or pre-profit.

Liopa used both grants to support research and development which led to the development of their

app which works on any mobile smart device and captures lip movement.

Richard McConnell said: “We are the first company in the world to successfully bring visual speech

recognition software to market.

“Our next step now is to explore various vertical markets such as the digital health market and find

new customers.”

With the pandemic accelerating the adoption of medtech, the global digital health market is

expected to grow to around $660billion, according to Statista.

Richard said Liopa is delighted to be working with the Royal Preston Hospital.

He said: “We see SRAVI bringing real benefits to patient care. Imagine how traumatic it would be to

wake up in an intensive care ward following a tracheostomy and not being able to communicate

with anyone.

“Until now it would have been a case of using a pencil and paper to communicate with medical staff,

which can cause stress on both sides.

“We believe Assisted Augmented Communication (AAC) can help speed up the clinical pathway and

improve the well-being of the patients.”

Liopa believe their software can also play a role in the automotive and security industries.

With cameras becoming more commonplace in cars, the technology could be used to monitor a

driver’s attentiveness or to help understand what happened prior to an accident. With a lot of CCTV

not having audio capabilities, the tech could be harnessed to decipher what was being said during a

crime.

Meanwhile, for the first time, the British Business Bank and UK Research and Innovation – including

Innovate UK – have come together to share data and release a joint research report. The ‘Backing

innovation-led businesses: the role of public investment’ report explores the role of public funding

and financing of innovation in the UK.

The report said: “We want to lead the way in turning this ambition into reality, building on the range

of recent government commitments in this area.

“Public funding of R&D will have a significant uplift by 2024-25, and the British Business Bank has an

increased volume of finance to deploy over the next three years.

“We know that achieving this objective won’t be straightforward. Growing the complex innovation

ecosystem, and enabling innovation-led businesses to succeed, takes many ingredients, often

working together in different, unique combinations.”

The Bank’s UK Network Director for Northern Ireland, Susan Nightingale said: “Investing in

innovation-led businesses, is an essential part of fostering an innovation economy, and central to

strengthening the UK’s position as a global science superpower.

“The British Business Bank is committed to driving sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK,

and our programmes will continue to fund R&D intensive businesses including spinouts from the

UK’s universities and research institutes. By doing so, we will help lead the way in turning UK

innovation ambition into a reality.”

Support is in place for Northern Ireland entrepreneurs to start and scale up their innovation-led

businesses and Richard McConnell is urging others to step forward.

He said: “Our experience is that you will likely be successful when you approach bodies like Invest NI,

Innovate UK and the British Business Bank.

“If you have identified a specific market and have evidence your tech solves a problem that nothing

else can solve, then these sources can help your business take the step up that it needs.

“You will need to have carried out your research and have a justifiable and credible business case

but the support is certainly available.”

For more information about Liopa visit www.liopa.ai