Andrea Electronics Corporation announces Airbus has selected its DA-250 array microphone for incorporation into CIMON, the first artificial intelligence robot to operate in outer space

BOHEMIA, N.Y., March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrea Electronics Corporation (OTCMKTS:ANDR) (Andrea), the pioneer of digital array microphones and noise reduction software that optimizes the performance of voice driven applications, announced today that its DA-250 array microphone is incorporated into the CIMON virtual assistant robot that will operate as part of the "Horizons" project on the International Space Station.

This will be the first form of artificial intelligence (AI) on an ISS mission. CIMON is an experiment overseen by Space Administration at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in cooperation with Airbus as the prime contractor as well as IBM, Reichert Design and LMU Munich.

The Airbus' CIMON project will also be presented at the IBM THINK convention in Las Vegas on March 19^th – 21^st 2018.

CIMON (Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN) is a mobile and autonomous assistance system designed to aid ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst with his everyday tasks on the International Space Station (ISS). Gerst, a 41 year-old German geophysicist, is scheduled to embark on his second research trip to the ISS as part of expedition 56/57 in late April 2018.

"Airbus required a high performance microphone to operate in this unique user environment. They tested other digital array microphones, but nothing solved the complex audio issues like the Andrea DA-250 DSP array microphone with its industrial NR performance and seamless integration for solving the front end far field voice input for CIMON," said Douglas Andrea, CEO of Andrea Electronics Corporation.  

Till Eisenberg, project manager at Airbus Friedrichshafen (Germany), eagerly awaits the mission: "CIMON is a personal assistant capable of voice and facial recognition. We want to study the psychological effects of long space missions on crew members and try out suitable countermeasures, especially those that reduce stress. We will place special emphasis on data mining and interactions between humans and AI."

CIMON is a hovering spherical device with internal thrusters to propel itself throughout the ISS cabin.
It has a display, speakers and the virtual assistant function is powered by IBM Watson.
http://www.airbus.com/newsroom/news/en/2017/06/esa-horizons-mission.html 
https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/2018/02/watson-space/

The DA-250 is a small digital signal processing circuit card with stereo microphone sensors.  
The array microphone has state-of-the-art beam forming, noise reduction and acoustic echo cancelation audio input technology and provides robust performance even in noisy server rooms and other fan noise type environments. http://www.andreaelectronics.com/da-250-array-microphone-digital-signal-processor/

An American Innovator
Andrea Electronics sends another first audio system into space. 
Andrea is an American-owned business since 1934. In the 60's the company produced the astronaut audio system for the Project Mercury NASA space program, as well as avionic intercom systems used in F-16 fighter jets and military helicopters. Andrea's microphone array and other advanced digital noise cancellation technologies have been embedded into hundreds of millions of personal computers and other devices.

The DA-250 Digital Array Microphone line is a standalone advanced microphone solution for OEMs and is among the latest innovations from Andrea Electronics.

About Andrea Electronics
Andrea Electronics Corporation designs, develops and manufactures audio technologies and equipment for enhancing applications requiring high performance quality voice input. The company's patented Digital Super Directional Array (DSDA™), patented PureAudio™ and patented EchoStop™ far-field microphone technologies enhance a wide range of audio products to eliminate background noise and ensure the optimum performance of voice applications. Visit Andrea Electronics' website at www.AndreaElectronics.com or call 1-800-442-7787.

SOURCE Andrea Electronics Corporation

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