Google is seeking volunteers for a new beta app called Project Relate. The app aims to provide people with speech impairments with a voice assistant that can transcribe their speech in real time and synthesize what they are saying.

The app is part of Project Euphoria, a broader effort launched in 2019 to collect data that will be used to improve Google's AI algorithms when dealing with the speech of people who "have difficulty being understood by others," such as those suffering from neurological diseases Objective.

With respect to the Relate app, there are three primary functions. The "Listen" function transcribes the user's speech in real time, which can then be copied and pasted into other apps or shown to others.

The Repeat feature restates what the user is saying in a "clear synthesized voice," which Google hopes will help with face-to-face conversations and help people with speech impairments speak commands to their smart home devices. The Assistant feature essentially allows users to speak to the Google Assistant directly from within the Relate app.

"As an initial tester of Project Relate, you will be asked to record a series of phrases. The app will use these phrases to automatically learn how to better understand your unique speech patterns," explained Julie Cattier, product manager for Google's AI division.

Google worked closely with people with speech impairments to develop Relate, and Aubrey Lee, a Google brand manager whose speech is affected by muscular dystrophy, noted: "The look on people's faces when they don't understand what you've said is We're used to that, and Project Relate can make the difference between a look of confusion and a friendly smile."

If you benefit from Project Relate and live in the US, Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, you can record your interest in Relate's test. Once you have access to the application, you will need to spend 30 to 90 minutes reading 500 phrases. This may sound like a lot of work, but that data will be the fuel that trains Relate's AI to recognize your voice; remember that you need a smartphone running Android OS 8 or later.

And at a macro level, this kind of work could also help improve voice recognition across Google Assistant. Google Assistant is one of the best AI-powered virtual assistants, but it still sometimes struggles to understand certain phrases or to hear hastily barked commands. Therefore, Google's work on AI algorithms could help improve the assistant for all people, regardless of speech.