Speech Technology Group, About STG
Toshiba Research Europe Limited (TREL) is part of Toshiba's global R&D activity. The Cambridge Research Laboratory of TREL conducts research on speech recognition and synthesis, as well as quantum information technology and computer vision.
The Speech Technology Group (STG), led by Kate Knill, is actively researching and developing embedded speech recognition and synthesis systems. We are driven by the principle of developing technology directly for application into devices such as controlling a MP3 player or a navigational system. This means addressing problems such as tight computational constraints, a wide variety of accents and speaking styles, against a background of changing noises and environments, and more natural, expressive synthesis.
Recently we have created the next generation of Toshiba’s embedded speech recognition. In parallel, we have developed the next generation of US English and European embedded speech synthesis systems. We are now improving and extending the systems in collaboration with the speech R&D groups at the Multimedia Lab, Toshiba RDC, Kawasaki, Japan and Toshiba China R&D Center, Beijing, China, and business divisions of Toshiba Group, Japan.
Working with groups within Toshiba, we have a tight coupling between our R&D efforts and current and future product development. This enables us to ensure that our research work will be of direct practical benefit. By collaborating and funding research at groups like the Machine Intelligence Laboratory at Cambridge University we can address research topics for the future.