Company: Sorenson, Salt Lake City, UT
Company Description: Sorenson is one of the world’s leading language services providers for Deaf and hard-of-hearing people. We combine patented technology with human-centric services to connect signed and spoken languages: captioning and video relay services, over-video and in-person sign language and spoken language interpreting, real-time event captioning services, and post-production language services.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories - Business Technology
Nomination Sub Category: Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning Solution
 Nomination Title: Sorenson's Olelo
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated new or new-version product or service, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
How Olelo works
You can take Olelo, our real-time phone caption app, wherever you go. We have advanced automatic speech recognition that instantly and accurately converts your conversations into text on your mobile device. It’s easy and private.
https://youtu.be/x-AAf-0PAvc
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which it was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released:
Six years ago, Erik Strand participated in an FCC initiative to explore the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automatic speech recognition (ASR) to improve captioning for the people who have experienced hearing loss and need captions to use the phone. The beta version of Olelo was developed to test the feasibility of ASR, which led to the launch of Olelo Captioned Calls in 2020. In July 2022, Olelo was acquired by Sorenson and relaunched as Olelo by Sorenson with improved features and functions. The latest update (version 1.19) was on March 29, 2023.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the features, functions, and benefits of the nominated product or service (up to 350 words):
Total 298 words used.
Olelo by Sorenson is a mobile captioning services application designed to transcribe words into text or captions as they are spoken during a phone conversation. Olelo is the Hawaiian word for “language,” or “to speak.” For people who are hard-of-hearing and need captions to talk on the phone, mobile phone captioning services like Olelo are essential to enable basic accessibility, understanding, and inclusion. In addition, the option of saving captioned real-time conversations gives users written documentation to enhance accuracy and information retention.
Olelo represents a huge leap forward from traditional captioned phone calls, which require highly skilled stenographers or captioning agents and can be expensive or difficult to find.
What makes Olelo unique is its use of artificial intelligence (AI) for Automated Speech Recognition (ASR). ASR recognizes speech on two fronts: at the acoustic level, where it "listens" to the sound of a spoken word and produces text corresponding to that sound, and through natural language processing models that provide a contextual framework for analyzing the broader meaning of combinations of words. This helps the program determine proper spelling and usage and more accurately predict the context of the conversation.
While translating sounds into written words poses challenges such as understanding accents, jargon, and background noise, significant progress with AI has been made in recent years to improve the ability of ASR to understand accents, reduce the need for training an application to recognize an individual's voice, and lessen sensitivity to environmental surroundings. This has made mobile phone captioning services like Olelo more accessible, cost-effective, and easier to find.
By providing basic accessibility, understanding, and inclusion for people who are hard-of-hearing, Olelo is an essential tool for empowering individuals and facilitating communication. With advances in technology, we can continue to improve accessibility and inclusivity for all.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Outline the market performance, critical reception, and customer satisfaction with the product or service to date. State monetary or unit sales figures to date, if possible, and how they compare to expectations or past performance. Provide links to laudatory product or service reviews. Include some customer testimonials, if applicable (up to 350 words):
Total 277 words used.
The field of artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way since the pioneering work on speech recognition technology in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, we have ubiquitous virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, and there have been similar surprises in the field of reactive machines, AI, and natural language processing.
One recent breakthrough in AI is Olelo, which provides real-time captioning on cell phone calls for registered users with hearing loss that necessitates captions to communicate via the telephone. In the last 12 months, the research and development team behind Olelo has streamlined deep learning techniques with an end-to-end "transformer" model that contextualizes words, sentences, and paragraphs to address the challenges of real-time speech recognition. Instead of processing speech on a word-at-a-time basis, these AI tools analyze entire sentences as clusters, which enables different types of analytics to be applied in parallel, resulting in enhanced speed and accuracy, as well as more robust predictive models.
The success of Olelo is evident in its ratings and downloads on the Apple and Google Play marketplaces. On the Apple marketplace, Olelo currently rates at 4.8 out of 5 stars with 571 total ratings. On the Google Play Marketplace, Olelo has been downloaded over one hundred thousand times and rates at 4.4 out of 5, with more than a thousand reviews.
These AI tools are revolutionizing accessibility and inclusion for people who are hard-of-hearing, providing real-time captioning on cell phone calls that allows them to communicate with ease. As AI technology continues to advance, we can expect even more breakthroughs that will transform the way we live and work, making our lives easier, more efficient, and more inclusive.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 213 words used.
In May of 2020, Olelo became the first "ASR-only" Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS) provider to be certified by the FCC. Since its launch, Olelo has had more than two hundred thousand installs and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from users (see app links below). Olelo values user feedback and has already incorporated many changes based on user suggestions.
In a recent FCC study, Olelo was assessed and found to have a lower/better Word Error Rate (WER) and caption delay than other providers (The full text of the study is available below).
Olelo's innovative use of AI and ASR technology is transforming accessibility and inclusion for people who are hard-of-hearing. As a certified IP CTS provider, Olelo ensures functionally equivalent phone service for those who have experienced hearing loss and need captions to use the phone, and the low WER and caption delay make the app a top choice for many users. Olelo is committed to providing a user-friendly and customizable experience, and its dedication to incorporating user feedback is a testament to that commitment.
Website for Olelo: https://www.olelophone.com/
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.machinegenius.olelo&
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1529823668
2021 FCC Study: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1050198540603/FCC%20TRS%20Project%20Prospective%20IP%20CTS%20Provider%20Assessment.pdf
Sorenson Logo: https://sorenson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SorensonLogo-Stacked-1000x600-1.png
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