Whispp Honored as TIME’s Best Invention of 2024 in Accessibility for Innovative Real-Time Assistive Voice Technology

A CES 2024 Best Innovation Honoree and 4YFN (Mobile World Congress) finalist, Whispp has now been named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024. The AI-powered app uniquely converts whispered and affected speech into a natural voice in real-time, empowering millions worldwide with voice disabilities and who stutter severely.

New York & Leiden, October 30th, 2024 – Whispp, an innovative voice technology company, is proud to announce that it has been named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024 in the Accessibility category. This prestigious acknowledgment highlights Whispp’s role in revolutionizing communication for millions worldwide who suffer from voice disabilities or who stutter severely, offering real-time conversion of whispered and affected speech into a person’s natural voice.

At the heart of Whispp’s app is its ability to facilitate seamless voice and video communication through real-time audio-to-audio AI conversion. By transforming whispered or affected speech into clear, natural voice during phone and video calls, as well as through voice and video messaging, Whispp empowers individuals with vocal impairments to communicate confidently in various contexts. Unlike conventional assistive speech tools that rely on speech-to-text, Whispp’s innovative audio-to-audio AI technology bypasses latency issues, allowing for immediate, natural-sounding voice conversion.

An upcoming feature, live conversation mode (coming soon), will further enhance Whispp’s impact by enabling real-time, face-to-face interactions—a game-changer for spontaneous and personal communication. This feature will build upon Whispp’s ability to convert whispered or soft speech into clear, natural speech, bringing effortless communication into everyday conversations. View a short video about Whispp here.

“Voice disabilities and speech disorders significantly impact one’s daily life and sense of happiness,” said Whispp CEO Joris Castermans. “Whispp’s recognition as one of TIME’s Best Inventions highlights our commitment to empowering people with voice disabilities to communicate naturally and confidently, whether on calls,  through video, or soon in person.”

What is TIME’s Best Invention?
Each year, TIME’s Best Inventions list honors innovations that significantly improve our way of life, recognizing breakthroughs in originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. This exclusive recognition places Whispp alongside groundbreaking companies and technologies that drive positive global change. For Whispp, inclusion in TIME’s list acknowledges its unique role in empowering people with voice disabilities through real-time voice conversion technology—redefining accessibility in communication.

Pioneering Real-Time Assistive Voice Technology
With its unique approach, Whispp created a new product category by catering to the needs of 300 million people with voice impairments—an underserved group that now has access to technology enabling natural, clear communication. By transforming whispered or affected speech into a clear, natural voice, Whispp is a game-changer for people with laryngeal cancer, spasmodic dysphonia, vocal cord paralysis, and other voice-affecting conditions.

How the Whispp App Works.
Whispp fundamentally differs from existing voice conversion technologies because it converts voiceless speech (speech that does not have a discernible pitch) to natural and voiced speech.

• Whispp uses audio-to-audio-based AI, resulting in real-time speech conversion, which is highly scalable due to its language-independent nature.
• Each user can recreate their distinct voice by providing recordings of their current or past healthy voice, adding a personalized touch to their communication.
• Whispp accommodates a broad spectrum of voice types — from whispers to rough speech resulting from a total laryngectomy after throat cancer — providing a tailored solution for various conditions. Whispp is even more innovative because, for several disorders, deliberately steering the voice towards whispering helps due to neurological changes in the speech system.
• People who stutter severely, for example, can reduce their stuttering frequency by an average of 85% while whispering. Additionally, people who suffer from spasmodic dysphonia or recurrent respiratory papillomatosis speak much more relaxed and fluently when they whisper.
• Unlike conventional speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) approaches with noticeable latency and an uneven conversational flow, Whispp provides real-time speech conversion, eliminating barriers to natural communication.

Milestones and Industry Recognition
Since the January 2024 launch at CES, Whispp has garnered significant industry recognition, including being a finalist at the 2024 4YFN Awards and winning the CES Innovation Award for Accessibility. Now, with its recognition as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024, Whispp continues to break new ground in the assistive technology space.