Belfast based software SME, Liopa, has secured its first commercial contract with a UK based hospital for its Artificial Intelligence (AI) lip-reading app,SRAVI (Speech Recognition Application for the Voice Impaired).
Following significant investment in Research and Development (R&D) with the support of Invest Northern Ireland, SRAVI is now licensed for use across inpatient units at the Royal Preston Hospital in England.
Established in 2015, Liopa is a spin-out SME from the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and has also undertaken a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with QUB as the academic partner which helped it to enhance the system’s audio speech recognition.
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Speaking about the contract, Fabian Campbell-West, CTO and co-founder of Liopa, said: “We have developed SRAVI specifically for ICU and Critical Care patients who have lost the ability to speak for numerous reasons, including tracheostomies. Essentially the technology brings a voice to the voiceless by using Visual Speech Recognition and AI technology to support patients, deciphering speech from lip movements. Patients mouth words into their smartphone camera and the SRAVI app will read out what they are saying. This improves communication between patients, families and healthcare staff, which is so important for patient care and wellbeing.”
Invest Northern Ireland offered Liopa £289,423 of support towards R&D to develop its visual speech recognition system, secure international patents and undertake marketing activities.
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Congratulating the company on securing its first contract, Dr Vicky Kell, Invest NI’s Director of Innovation, Research and Development, said: “Liopa is an ambitious company that has shown how strategic investment in R&D can lead a company to be more competitive. We’ve supported Liopa’s growth since its inception, helping it to create intelligent, pioneering products that are a real benefit to the healthcare sector. I am pleased that our support, combined with a KTP, has helped it to secure this significant contract with Royal Preston Hospital.”
In recognition of Liopa’s commitment to innovation, it has been awarded a Gold Level Innovator Certificate from Innovate NI.
Source:Written from press release.
