We are Liopa. We were incorporated in 2015 to commercialise more than 15 years of PhD research at QUB in the field of speech and image processing. Using this deep knowledge, we developed an automated lipreading solution. Our technology – rooted in machine learning and AI – can decipher what a person is saying from their lip movements alone.

Liopa is the first company to release commercially available VSR (Visual Speech Recognition) technology, with the first application being our SRAVI app (www.sravi.ai).

SRAVI is a simple lipreading application that requires just a smartphone. It is bringing a voice to the voiceless.

With SRAVI, we help patients who have lost the ability to speak, to communicate with their loved ones & carers. SRAVI is deployed onto a smartphone, and when pointed towards the patient, the app analyses their lip movements to decipher what they are trying to say. SRAVI is being trialled in Intensive Care units within the NHS.

SRAVI’s real-life usage is explained in the attached case studies from ICU Consultant Dr. Shondipon Laha and one of his patients – both from the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Our lipreading technology can also be used in a range of other applications, including keyword spotting, active speaker detection, and silent communication – more info on these R&D apps can be found at www.liopa.ai.

Liopa has received financial awards from:

• Innovate UK – press release https://liopa.ai/innovate-uk-funding/; and,

• DASA – press release: https://liopa.ai/news/liopa-extends-keyword-spotting-contract-with-dasa/

• Future Fund – press release: https://www.qubis.co.uk/news/41/automated-lipreading-company-liopa-gains

More about SRAVI

Our SRAVI app helps the most unwell patients in ICU by lipreading them.

SRAVI stands in contrast to complex, traditional communication solutions like eye gaze tracking. These systems are very expensive for the patient, and they require specialised equipment.

To use these complex systems, patients need to be relatively well.

In contrast, SRAVI is “ultra-easy” – and here’s why:

• Users can be up and running in seconds

• You simply aim a smartphone camera at the person, and it reads their lips from a defined set of phrases

• They can communicate with family members, doctors and nurses instantly, with basic but essential phrases like “I’m hungry. I need the toilet.”

Many conditions will render patients voiceless – tracheostomies, paralysis, trauma or stroke. So far, SRAVI app has been successfully trialled with patients in ICU at Royal Preston Hospital, and we’re expanding to other ICU units across the UK. Our trial has been led by ICU consultant, Dr Shondipon Laha. He said: “This prototype, trialled successfully on our critical care unit, has shown very exciting results.”

Dr Laha went on:

“Not being able to speak is very frustrating for the patient, and for staff. We can deal with patients’ needs much more rapidly and the rehabilitation process is much smoother if we can improve communication. SRAVI is absolutely fundamental to the successful treatment of extremely ill patients.”

SRAVI has helped patient Nathan Armstrong. Nathan said “I love how simple SRAVI is to use. SRAVI enables me to tell people what I need.”

SRAVI product information can be found at: www.sravi.ai