Vertical Markets

2016 IET Innovation Awards

by Mark Rowe

Audio Analytic were winners of an IET Innovation Award (Consumer Electronics Technology) winner in November 2014.

Andrea Cantone, Business Development Manager at Audio Analytic, says: “The value of the IET Innovation Awards is two-fold: visibility and credibility amongst the engineering and technology community, and recognition of the value our technology brings to the marketplace – that it is valid.”

Audio Analytic is an intelligent software system that recognises sounds by means of computer analysis. It can detect sounds from crying babies to breaking glass to a smoke alarm, and has applications in the home and business. The technology itself is used by device manufacturers in their products, such as cameras, smart lighting, thermostats, home hubs and baby monitors. Partners include Sengled, Swann and Cisco.

At the time of entering the awards, the Cambridge-based company was expanding into consumer technology after six years’ in the security market. Since winning what Andrea describes as the “prestigious” IET Innovation Award, the company has gone from strength to strength. Andrea said: “Our customers embed our technology into their consumer devices, and Audio Analytic-enabled devices are now available in over 1,200 stores across the UK, plus thousands more across the US, Europe and Australia. We’ve increased staff numbers by over 150%, and brought in over £2.5 million in private funding and grants to develop our technology further. We put ourselves forward for the award because it was important for our visibility as we sought to expand and increase our market share. It’s worked, because we now have global centres worldwide, and winning the award is something that we consistently highlight.”

Andrea’s role is to target global opportunities within the connected home ecosystem, including with consumer electronics, telecoms operators and other service providers. “The connected home market is growing rapidly, as more and more smart devices are deployed by consumers looking to monitor and control their home environments. Our objective over the next 12-18 months is to make sure we remain the best in the world at what we do. We want our technology to be deployed in as many homes as possible.”

And the connected home, or smart home as it’s known in the US, is set to become a mass market, according to Andrea. “It’s a market that is neither age nor gender specific,” he said. “However, we recognise that simplicity is the key to even wider adoption. Guiding people on how easy the technology is to use is absolutely critical. We are also focusing on the ‘peace of mind’ message to our customers. We all worry about monitoring for activity in the home when we’re out, and whilst many products rely on video to detect untoward events, sounds analysis adds a new dimension to protection, making it a critical component in the coming wave of smart devices. We are at the forefront of developments in this space.”

The 2016 IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) Innovation Awards are now open for entry until July 8. The awards are open to any individual, company or organisation anywhere, with any idea, product or technology development. Categories are: Communications; Cyber Security; Emerging Technology Design; Energy; Healthcare Technologies; Horizontal Innovation; Information Technology; Intelligent Systems; Manufacturing Technology; Model-Based Engineering; Navigation & Surveillance Communications; Power; Start-up; Sustainability and Transport. To enter go to www.theiet.org/innovation.

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