Israeli startup develops anti-noise car voice recognition system that eliminates all noise

According to foreign media reports, in the automotive environment, voice control has faced a problem for many years: the noise inside the car interferes with the understanding of voice commands. Israeli startup Hi Auto hopes to change this situation and has launched a method to isolate speakers and enhance voice. The company has successfully raised $4.5 million (about 31.4933 million yuan) in seed round financing.

(Image source: Hi Auto)

In noisy environments such as a child in the back seat of a car, an ambulance passing by, or heavy rain, the recognition rate of current voice recognition platforms is very low. Therefore, Hi Auto launched audio-visual recognition technology, which combines a microphone and a camera to track the lips of the speaker and eliminate all noise, so that the car voice recognition function can work reliably in any noise conditions.

Currently, Hi Auto is focused on the automotive industry, but its novel solution can be applied to various fields that require voice recognition and clear conversation, including automobiles, call centers, video conferencing, and robots serving customers in the hotel industry.

Hi Auto, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, was co-founded in February 2019 by CEO Roy Baharav, CTO Eyal Shapira, and the company's acting chairman and investor Zohar Zisapel. Like other founders of Israeli high-tech companies, Baharav used to hold senior positions in an elite intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including serving as the commander of a department of 40 engineers and technical experts.

Eyal Shapira worked in the IDF's elite technology department, with about 40 engineers and professionals under him. After retiring, Shapira founded several startups and served as a consultant to companies such as Intel and Broadcom. Zohar Zisapel is a well-known investor in the automotive industry and one of Israel's most well-known high-tech entrepreneurs and managers. Zisapel helped to found some of Israel's most successful automotive startups, such as Hailo, Argus and Innoviz, and he is also the chairman of the above companies.

The seed round was led by Israeli car importer Delek Motors and Hi Auto’s acting chairman Zohar Zisapel, with participation from Allied Holdings, Singapore’s Goldbell Group and Plug & Play, which works with the automotive industry to launch innovative products.

Hi Auto will showcase a prototype of its commercial driver voice recognition solution at the 2020 CES (January 7-10, Las Vegas). Hi Auto says the solution is a world first that can separate the driver's voice from the voices and noise of other passengers inside and outside the car. The system is based on a deep learning software program installed on the device, eliminating noise that cannot be eliminated using audio technology alone. According to Hi Auto, the company has established contacts with automakers and will test its technology as soon as possible.