2009 Press Release Archive
- PANOPTO ENDORSES THE VOICE TRACKER ARRAY MICROPHONE FOR CLASSROOM LECTURE CAPTURE
- (April 21, 2009) MACSPEECH, INC. CERTIFIES VOICE TRACKER USB ARRAY MICROPHONE FOR USE WITH MACSPEECH DICTATE
- First Highly Accurate Desktop Microphone that picks up questions from throughout the room at ranges up to 30 feet, while suppressing background noise -
SUDBURY, MA, June 16, 2009 - Acoustic Magic, Inc. and Panopto Inc, today announced that the Voice Tracker™ array microphone is now recommended for use with CourseCast, a leading lecture capture product.
Now for the first time, a single microphone can capture questions from the class as well as the lecture from the teacher. There is no need for wireless lapel mics that require batteries, or a series of mixed microphones placed throughout the room.
"In our tests, it delivered as promised: excellent sound quality, even at a distance, consistent and configuration-free speaker tracking, and near-elimination of ambient noises like vents, fans, and traffic drone”, explained Eric Burns, founder and CTO of Panopto, Inc. “In an echo-prone room with bare floors, high ceilings, and bare brick walls, the Voice Tracker produced professional-sounding audio with no fuss. Panopto is proud to recommend it to our customers; it is an exciting product that fills a niche underserved by existing solutions."
"Acoustic Magic is excited that Panopto endorses our Voice Tracker microphone for meeting and classroom recording." said Bob Feingold, CEO of Acoustic Magic, Inc. "Although the Voice Tracker is technically sophisticated, its is surprisingly inexpensive (under $300) and provides a very cost-effective solution which is much appreciated by education providers, especially at this time."
The Voice Tracker USB array microphone incorporates two-stage noise reduction, coupled with the sensitivity of eight microphone elements, to give the Voice Tracker outstanding range and sound quality. The two-stage noise reduction originates with the array microphone locating the person speaking and, using patented steering technology, electronically focusing the microphone elements in their direction, creating the spatial filtering that eliminates sounds and reverberation from other parts of the room. In addition to spatial filtering, proprietary digital noise reduction processing removes additional background noise. The combination of these digital noise reduction algorithms and eight continual-processing microphone elements together greatly enhance sound quality. The Voice Tracker is also the only array microphone on the market that can scan a full 360 degrees.
Panopto's presentation capture suite is used in a wide variety of scenarios, from educational lectures to corporate meetings to personal, self-serve video multimedia capture from the desktop. These different scenarios demand different types of capture hardware, and Acoustic Magic's Voice Tracker microphone fills an important and surprisingly broad requirement: far superior to integrated laptop and webcam mics, more versatile than professional directional mics, and free of the hassle of lapel or headset microphones, the Voice Tracker is ideal for a simple, self-serve presentation recording setup.
About Acoustic Magic, Inc
Acoustic Magic, Inc. manufactures the Voice Tracker desktop array microphone that has found application in automatic speech recognition, meeting and lecture recording, VoIP and conventional teleconferencing, voice control for home automation, and security surveillance. Further information about Acoustic Magic and the Voice Tracker array microphone can be found at
About Panopto, Inc.
Panopto, Inc. is a privately held provider of rich-media knowledge casting and management solutions to the education, corporate, government and healthcare markets. Panopto Hosted is available on monthly and annual subscription levels. CourseCast is a trademark of Panopto, Inc. All other brand, product, service and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners. More information about Panopto can be found at www.panopto.com. Contact: Beth Bellon.
– First Highly Accurate Desktop Microphone To Capture Most Human Voices For Dictation with MacSpeech Dictate From More Than a Foot Away –
SALEM, N.H., April 21, 2009 - MacSpeech, Inc. and Acoustic Magic, Inc. today announced the Voice Tracker™ USB array microphone is now certified for use with MacSpeech® Dictate, the premier speech recognition solution for the Macintosh.
Now for the first time, the Voice Tracker USB array microphone from Acoustic Magic can be used with MacSpeech Dictate for voice input and control of the Macintosh without wearing a headset or requiring the speaker to remain stationary. The Voice Tracker USB array microphone is available immediately for US$297 directly from MacSpeech, Inc. at www.macspeech.com.
"MacSpeech Dictate provides state-of-the-art speech recognition for the Macintosh," explained Andrew Taylor, founder and CEO of MacSpeech, Inc. "The Voice Tracker USB provides state-of-the-art array microphone technology. We're thrilled to offer this high-end, multi-function microphone as an option for a variety of our customers."
"Acoustic Magic is excited that MacSpeech certified our Voice Tracker USB microphone for use with MacSpeech Dictate," said Bob Feingold, CEO of Acoustic Magic, Inc. "This designation allows Macintosh users to dictate and control their computers hands free and without the burden of wearing a headset. The Voice Tracker USB is truly a multi-purpose microphone that can pick up the human voice at ranges of 30 feet for meeting recording, 20 feet for voice control, and for those who speak clearly more than a foot away for full vocabulary dictation."
The Voice Tracker USB array microphone provides two-stage noise reduction, coupled with the sensitivity of eight microphone elements, to give the Voice Tracker USB outstanding range and sound quality ideal for use with speech recognition software. The two-stage noise reduction originates with the array microphone locating the person speaking and, using patented steering technology, electronically focusing the microphone elements in their direction, creating the spatial filtering that eliminates sounds and reverberation from other parts of the room. In addition to spatial filtering, proprietary digital noise reduction processing removes additional background noise. The combination of these digital noise reduction algorithms and eight continual-processing microphone elements together greatly enhance sound quality. The Voice Tracker USB is also the only array microphone on the market that can scan a full 180 degrees.
MacSpeech Dictate is the only desktop speech recognition solution for the Macintosh. MacSpeech Dictate provides unprecedented speech recognition accuracy with minimal training and works with existing Mac applications. MacSpeech Dictate delivers a truly Mac user experience, and conforms to behaviors already familiar to Macintosh fans worldwide. Beyond dictation, MacSpeech Dictate lets people perform basic navigation of their Mac and control it with their voice to launch applications, open new windows, execute menu commands, etc.
Compatibility and Availability
The Voice Tracker USB array microphone from Acoustic Magic, Inc. is available today for use with MacSpeech Dictate and ships with the requisite USB adapter. MacSpeech Dictate requires Intel-based Macintosh hardware and requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or Mac OS X 10.5.2 and higher.
Current owners of the Voice Tracker USB array microphone can incorporate their microphone with MacSpeech Dictate today. New orders of MacSpeech Dictate with the Voice Tracker USB array microphone option are available immediately directly from MacSpeech, only in the U.S. and U.K. In the United States, MacSpeech Dictate with Voice Tracker USB is priced at US $439, and the Voice Tracker USB alone is priced at US$297. In the U.K. MacSpeech Dictate with Voice Tracker USB is priced at £419.95 and the Voice Tracker USB alone is priced at £279.95. Orders from all other countries are subject to significant additional customs and shipping charges.
Orders can be placed immediately at www.macspeech.com in the U.S., at www.macspeech.co.uk in the U.K.
About Acoustic Magic, Inc
Acoustic Magic, Inc. manufactures the Voice Tracker desktop array microphone that has found application in automatic speech recognition, meeting and lecture recording, VoIP and conventional teleconferencing, voice control for home automation, and security surveillance. Further information about Acoustic Magic and the Voice Tracker array microphone can be found at www.AcousticMagic.com/.
About MacSpeech, Inc.
MacSpeech, a Mac-only company dedicated to producing the finest speech products for Macintosh, celebrated its ten-year anniversary throughout 2007. Further information on MacSpeech can be found at www.macspeech.com/.
