- Title: German company develops coughing app to detect coronavirus
- Date: 18th July 2020
- Summary: VARIOUS OF audEERING CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER, SHOWING HOW THE APP WORKS AND SAYING: "It's very easy, you press start ... and I begin my recording" VARIOUS OF SMARTPHONE AS SCHULLER COUGHS AND RECORDING ON APP PLAYS BACK VARIOUS OF SCREEN & SMARTPHONE SHOWING RECORDING ON APP SOUNDBITE (German) CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER SAYING: "If I press yes, it goes to the terms of use and data privacy agreement." SCREEN SHOWING APP SCREEN / SMARTPHONE (SOUNDBITE) (German) audEERING CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER, SAYING: "In the first step, our app can recognise sound events and a first indication of whether the voice has relevant characteristics of COVID-19. In the next step, the app should make significantly better rehabilitation processes possible, and produce further information about the development of the disease." VARIOUS OF APP ON SMARTPHONE (SOUNDBITE) (German) audEERING CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER, SAYING: "We have an AI system based on years of scientific research where different dimensions, particularly sound events models, can be trained (to self-learn). That means, different types of coughing, sneezing, voice characteristics, have been trained and in the next step, the voice testing, COVID-19 patients were recorded and compared with healthy people, and what are the differences and characteristics that can be automated on the basis of this KE." VARIOUS OF APP ON IPAD WITH BUTTONS READING COUGH, SNEEZE, RUNNY NOSE, SHORTNESS OF BREATH ETC. (SOUNDBITE) (German) CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER, SAYING: "We need as much data as possible and the best quality data possible. That means people who can give the information on whether they have tested positive for COVID-19 or had symptoms but tested negative, and make their voice and audio tests available. Only if we have a lot of data, and can use it adequately to train the model, then the confidence increases as does the possibilities that we have relevant evidence that is zero evasive with the 'normal' technology of a microphone." VARIOUS OF APP ON SCREEN WITH GRAPHS AND INFORMATION (SOUNDBITE) (German) audEERING CEO & CO-FOUNDER, DAGMAR SCHULLER, SAYING: "In a short amount of time, our app has been primarily tested by a small group. We will make it available to the general public as soon as we can raise the measures of confidence to a relevant level, then we can assume that it will be soon possible to do so, that's the first step. Then we ask for voluntary data to support this app."
- Embargoed: 1st August 2020 12:31
- Keywords: COVID-19 Germany audEERING coronavirus cough coughing
- Location: GILCHING, GERMANY
- City: GILCHING, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002CNC60JR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A German tech company is in the process of developing an app aimed at detecting coronavirus using the sounds of coughing and sneezing as well as voice recognition.
The firm audEERING, based in the southern state of Bavaria, is banking on audio artificial intelligence as a means of containment and improved analysis of the disease.
With the app, users are asked to record audio of themselves coughing, sneezing or speaking. The technology begins to learn from such vocal characteristics, and compares the data to recordings of COVID-19 patients.
Age, gender and health condition can all be automatically detected by the recordings, the company claims.
Germany and other European countries like Italy, Poland and Latvia are turning to mobile technology as a means of tackling the pandemic. These countries' governments have launched apps that use Bluetooth wireless to measure contacts between people and issue a warning should one of them later test positive for COVID-19.
Germany's smartphone app to help trace coronavirus infections was downloaded 6.5 million times in the first 24 hours since its launch.
Although the technology is untested, governments have rushed to deploy it in the absence of a cure for COVID-19, seeking instead to achieve a kind of digital 'herd immunity' against the flu-like disease.
Widespread take-up is needed, however, to increase the chance that both people in a risk event use the app. In field tests, the app successfully recorded 80% of such encounters.
According to audEERING CEO & co-founder Dagmar Schuller, a large amount of voluntary data from the public is also required in order for the cough app to be successful.
The firm said it is currently working on being able to embed their app into the government app.
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