Todd Mozer’s expertise in speech synthesis came from his work at Electronic Speech Systems (ESS) based in Berkeley, California, USA, in the early 80’s. A company that developed software speech technology, built primarily on the research of his Father, Professor Forrest Mozer.

The speech technology was utilised on some of the top home computers of the time, like the popular Commodore 64, and notably in the games Ghostbusters and Impossible Mission. Infact, it was the stunning speech on these games that really showcased the talent at Electronic Speech Systems (ESS) and their speech technology.

The significant advantage of the technique developed by Professor Forrest Mozer was the incredibly small amount of memory required to generate intelligible speech, while retaining the vocal characteristics of the original voice. It was this breakthrough that was the key to the success of Electronic Speech Systems (ESS) and the stunning speech that it achieved.

Sensory Inc. Office in Sunnyvale, California, USA.	In 1994 Todd Mozer went on to co-found the global company Sensory Inc. based in Sunnyvale, California, USA, where he is President of the company. Sensory Inc. specialises in speech recognition and speech and music synthesis. Sensory Inc. have built on the pioneering efforts of Professor Forrest Mozer’s earlier work to offer high quality, low cost speech products for todays technology. They were the first company to introduce a commercially successful speech recognition and speaker verification IC in the mid 90's. Due to the initial success of Sensory they have acquired a number of other companies, including Fluent Speech Technologies which manufactured speech recognition microchips and software.
Leading companies in consumer electronics like, Sony, JVC, Mitsubishi and Toshiba have and are using Sensory Inc. speech products. In childrens toys like Furby, Scamps, I-Cybie and Amazing Amanda or electronic gadgets like Handsfree carphones, remote controls, alarm clocks and car stereos. The chances are that some of the speech based products that you will or have come across during your lifetime are using technology from Sensory Inc.	Silverlit Electronics I-Cybie Toy
Sensory Inc. Doc	One of their latest breakthroughs is advanced speech recognition with lip synching as demonstrated by their work on Doc, a computer generated and animated character which listens to the human voice and then emulates the speech as an intelligent avatar, producing highly accurate lip syncing! Doc appeared and was discussed on the Tech Closeup show with Todd Mozer. From the humble beginnings of Electronic Speech Systems (ESS), Todd Mozer and his team have established a successful and advanced company that is not only ready to face the future, it is the future! And it may very well be that a voice activated light or door in your home in the not so distant future is based on Sensory Inc. technology! I bet you never thought that when playing Impossible Mission on your Commodore 64!

Tech Closeup is a show based in San Carlos, California and produced by Mark Albertson. It started in January 2005 and currently has around 3 million viewers. It is a 30 minute program that features the latest technology from Silicon Valley. It features hosts Marc Levenson (previously Tech TV) and Cristina King (previously a news anchor on NBC).

In the February 2006 edition of the Tech Closeup show they featured Todd Mozer the president of the company Sensory Inc. and their speech technology, including a voice activated light and Doc the computer generated and animated avatar, which is the next step in voice recognition and is capable of emulating the human voice, recreating it as an intelligent 'lip synched' avatar!

Below is a media player with an excerpt from this edition of the program. Enjoy!


Video Clip © Copyright 2006 Tech Closeup/Mark Albertson


Thank you to the following websites which were used for sourcing some images that appear in this article:
Tech Closeup, I-Cybie, Sensory Inc.