CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – The research team at Orka has achieved significant accomplishments in the Second Clarity Enhancement Challenge (CEC2), winning the Bronze Prize, and the Silver Prize in the subsequent ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge.
The annual ICASSP challenge series, organized by the globally respected authority, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), aims to explore the frontier issues in the fields of acoustics, speech, and signal processing. The First Clarity Enhancement Challenge (CEC) was seen by technological powerhouses like Google as a crucial avenue for exploring and developing novel acoustic technologies, which prompted IEEE to launch CEC2 and the ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge. Both challenges focused on the application of the latest speech enhancement technology in the field of hearing aids, together promoting the development of speech enhancement functions of hearing aids, and attracting participation from excellent research teams globally.
“The success achieved by our team in CEC2 and ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge signifies our continuous commitment to research and development in the hearing aid industry. This accomplishment will contribute to further enhancing the performance and effect of hearing aid solutions, and we will continue to work towards improving the quality and experience of hearing assistance devices, providing a better listening experience for users.”
–Ben Sun, CEO of Orka
Orka One hearing aids shown
In the CEC2 Challenge, Orka stood out from the 12 participating teams and won the bronze prize; later, in the ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge, Orka took second again, demonstrating their determination to innovate in related fields.
It is worth noting that CEC2 and ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge were more complex than previous challenges, providing a test environment closer to real-life scenarios, simulating the head movement of listeners and various speech, music, and household noise sources. The competition systems and models underwent dual assessment through real-person hearing tests and objective indicators, measuring the effect of improving speech clarity without impairing sound quality.
Orka’s team optimized existing machine learning algorithms, with a particular focus on enhancing the amplification performance of hearing aids in real environments. They proposed a pure deep learning low latency hearing assistance system in real-time, including noise reduction module, beam forming module, and amplification module.
In the CEC2 challenge, with an average HASPI score of 0.7673, Orka’s model outperforms other state-of-the-art speech enhancement models like DCCRN [7] and SDD-Net [3]. Orka window also plays an important role in this experiment, simultaneously achieving high-frequency resolution and low reconstruction latency. In the ICASSP SP Clarity Challenge, Orka’s HASPI and HASQI scores achieved an average of 0.398, securing second place—just shy of the first-place score of 0.403.
About Orka
Founded in Silicon Valley in 2018, Orka is a multinational startup focused on innovative hearing technologies. As one of the first global tech companies to employ AI technology throughout the full lifecycle of hearing aids, Orka is dedicated to creating an integrated hearing aid system that combines hardware, AI algorithms, and services. By achieving precise separation of human voices and noise, developing smart hearing aids, and a remote fitting platform, Orka offers users efficient solutions for remote, fine-tuning hearing aids, and redefining hearing aid products and services. Since its inception, Orka has been devoted to breaking the technological limitations of traditional hearing aids. Through combining design and technology, Orka hopes to tackle the challenges of hearing loss in a smart and economical way, making healthcare more personable and convenient. Okra was named a winner of the 2021 Reddot awards for Bluetooth hearing aids and was named as a 2021 CES Innovation Awards honoree. Learn more at https://hiorka.com/AboutUs.
