Projet VoCS (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2023)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

With AI-driven advances, the rapidly developing field of voice technology (VT) has transformed European life through voice assistants, text-to-speech systems, and cochlear implants. However, severe challenges remain in processing paralinguistic information such as identity, emotional state or health in voices. The Voice Communication Sciences (VoCS) project is an ambitious initiative to address these challenges and advance Europe's position at the forefront of VT. VoCS aims to train a new generation of scientists with interdisciplinary expertise in Voice Communication Sciences. The project gathers a consortium of 23 academic and non-academic partners across 12 countries, collaborating to provide a world-class training-by-research program. The primary goal is to equip 19 doctoral candidates (DCs) with integrated knowledge spanning cognitive neuroscience, acoustics, phonetics, and computing science, via a unique combination of hands-on research training in labs, with cross-sectorial workshops in fundamental, technological, and clinical domains relevant to voice communication. The project's innovative aspects lie in its comprehensive approach to voice processing, bridging disciplines from neuroscience to engineering. The VoCS research program is structured around three scientific objectives: (1) advancing basic knowledge of natural voice processing, exploring paralinguistic information in voices; (2) building on these insights to design more natural and flexible synthetic voices; (3) transferring this knowledge into user-oriented applications in health and forensics, including the improvement of voice perception for hearing-impaired individuals, advancements in forensic speaker comparison methods, and the development of tools to combat deepfake speech. VoCS aims to contribute not only to scientific knowledge but also to the exponential growth of the VT industry by creating a network of skilled experts shaping the future of VT in Europe.

Mots clés : voice technology, acoustics, phonetics, cognitive neuroscience, artificial intelligence, synthetic voices, hearing aids, forensics, voice quality, social signal processing, digital health, perception

Participants :
- Protisvalor (France) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Audeering gmbh (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 260539.2 €
- Aix-Marseille Université (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 565387.2 €
- Cochlear France (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 274370.4 €
- Université Jean Monnet (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 282693.6 €
- ODIA (France) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Twente (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 274370.4 €
- University College de Londres (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de l'est de la Finlande (Finlande) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 286488.0 €
- Queen Mary University of London (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- National Bureau of Investigation (Finlande) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes publics (hors enseignement & recherche), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Friedrich-Schiller d'Iéna (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 260539.2 €
- Université Loránd Eötvös (Hongrie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 228348.0 €
- University Medical Center Groningen (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 274370.4 €
- Université d'Oslo (Norvège) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 297748.8 €
- Université technique de Munich (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut national d'informatique (Japon) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Oxford wave research ltd (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Charles de Prague (Rép. Tchèque) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 237038.4 €
- Université de Maastricht (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 274370.4 €
- Université de Zurich (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université Pompeu Fabra (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 251971.2 €
- Oticon (Denmark) (Danemark) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 301788.0 €