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Mozilla Voice Challenge

We are on a mission to find which specific open source technologies need to be developed and integrated to power voice-enabled products.

This challenge is closed

stage:
Won
prize:
$6,000

This challenge is closed

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Summary
Timeline
Updates16
Forum3
Teams137
Summary

Overview

The Challenge

We are on a mission to find which specific open source technologies need to be developed and integrated to power voice-enabled products. We want to open up the voice product development process, to make it transparent and accessible to everyone.

The first two steps in this direction have been the Common Voice project, the compilation of a multilingual, open and publicly available dataset of labeled audio samples to be used to train voice-enabled applications, and Mozilla Speech open source projects (text-to-speech engine, and speech-to-text engine). 

Now, we’re taking the next step: we would like to identify and integrate a full plan to define the voice technology space by creating a “stack” of open source technologies to support the development of new voice-enabled products. Click on the orange ACCEPT CHALLENGE Button to apply!

 

The Objective

To create a comprehensive stack of open-source voice-enabled technologies for the development of voice-enabled products. 

We envision that some elements of this stack would be the following technologies:

  • Language parsing: stemming, entity recognition, dialog management, and summarization
  • Intent parsing
  • Keyword alignment
  • Keyword spotting
  • Voice-signal processing
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP)
  • Text-to-speech (TSS)
  • Speech-to-text (STT)

We want to improve this list by adding more relevant technologies and then place the list in a public repository for open access. To achieve this, all proposed technologies in the stack need to be open-source licensed.

 

Your Solution

When composing the stack, HeroX Solvers should answer the following questions:

  1. Which specific technologies need to be added to this list? Please, provide a detailed explanation of why each of them deserves to be added to the list. The quality of this explanation is as important as the number of proposed specific technologies.
  2. What open source options are available for each of these technologies? Please, provide an estimate of their quality.
  3. What would a full stack of open source voice technologies look like? Please, choose an open-source project for each piece and describe the “architecture” that would bring all the pieces together. Tell us why you made the choices you did.
  4. How would these open source options work with one another? Are there any technical challenges to be solved to make the stack work?
  5. Are there any “gaps” in the stack where quality open source projects are not available? If yes, please provide a description of that gap and a thorough explanation of why existing open-source projects are not useful and what functions a new project would need to perform to fill the gap.

Prizes

A total prize pool of up to $6,000 is available

  • Up to 2 grand prizes x $1,500 each
  • Up to 2 runner up prizes x $750 each
  • Up to 3 honorable mentions x $500

 

Timeline:

  • Open to submissions: June 20, 2019
  • Submission deadline: September 19, 2019
  • Judging: September 20 to October 21, 2019
  • Winners Announced: October 24, 2019

Other links:

  1. Recent Updates
  2. Forum

 

Click on the orange "Accept Challenge" Button to apply!


Guidelines

How do I win?

To be eligible for an award, your proposal must, at a minimum:

  • Be scored higher than your competitors!
  • Thoughtfully address the Submission Form questions
  • Satisfy the Judging Scorecard requirements

 

Judging Scorecard

  1. The completeness of the proposed technologies in the technology stack:
    1. At least one specific technology/open source project should be proposed for each element of the stack. We’re not interested in a simple discussion of technologies listed in the Overview.
    2. A clear reason why this particular technology was added to the stack has to be clearly articulated.
    3. If there are “gaps” in the stack where quality open source projects are not available, we are interested in a description of that gap. A thorough explanation of why existing open source projects are not useful and what functions a new project would need to perform to fill the gap needs to be provided.
    4. It’s crucial to remember that we’re only interested in open source technologies. Patented technologies, regardless of the owner of the patent(s) will not be considered.
  2. The quality of description of each individual piece of the stack and the “architecture” keeping these pieces together:
    1. The quality of the description of each individual entry in the proposed technology stack is very important. Submissions presenting fewer but better described specific technologies will be preferred over those presenting a larger number of technologies without proper explanation.
    2. Special attention will be paid to the “architecture” aspect of the submission, specifically how the pieces should be optimized to work together. It is this aspect that will make a difference between grand prize-level and other submissions.

Intellectual Property

We’re looking for open source solutions that empower voice-enabled technology. If you choose to submit any code, ensure that it is already under an open source license OR you are comfortable granting Mozilla a license to use the code and, if you win, assigning the ownership of the code to Mozilla. In cases where ownership is assigned to Mozilla, Mozilla may choose to make the code open source. You can view the full details on the intellectual property structure in the legal agreement.

 

Rules

Participation Eligibility:

The challenge is open to all adult individuals, private teams, public teams, and collegiate teams. Teams may originate from any country. Submissions must be made in English. All challenge-related communication will be in English.

No specific qualifications or expertise in the field of voice-enabled technology is required. Prize organizers encourage outside individuals and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions.

To be eligible to compete, you must comply with all the terms of the challenge as defined in the Challenge-Specific Agreement.

 

Registration and Submissions:

Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before September 19, 2019, 5 pm EDT. No late submissions will be accepted.

 

Selection of Winners:

Based on the winning criteria, prizes will be awarded per the Judging Criteria section above. In the case of a tie, the winner(s) will be selected based on the highest votes from the Judges.

 

Additional Information

  • Void wherever restricted or prohibited by law.
  • No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the competition.
  • All ineligible applicants will be automatically removed from the competition with no recourse or reimbursement.
  • All applications will go through a process of due diligence; any application found to be misrepresentative, plagiarized, or sharing an idea that is not their own will be automatically disqualified.
  • By participating in the challenge, each competitor agrees to submit only their original idea. Any indication of "copying" amongst competitors is grounds for disqualification.

 

 

Timeline
Updates16

Challenge Updates

Finalists Announcement!

Nov. 5, 2019, 1 p.m. PST by Despina Maliaka

Hello Innovators,

The judging for the Mozilla Voice Challenge has been completed! We are excited to give honourable mentions to:

Allister Beharry and Ovidiu Dobre

Congratulations for making the finalist list! 

No submission met the full criteria outlined by the challenge, which meant that there was no winner. Nevertheless, the Mozilla Voice team believed that submissions that exhibited quality research and overall interest in the subject area should be rewarded regardless. Both of the finalists shall receive a portion of the total winning amount. 

We want to thank all of you for your efforts and encourage you to keep an eye out for future opportunities to collaborate in the world of open source voice technology!

All the best,

-The Mozilla Voice Challenge Team

 


Winner's announcement coming soon...

Oct. 29, 2019, 11:49 a.m. PDT by Despina Maliaka

Dear innovators,

We just wanted to let you know that your submissions are with the judges and winners are still being finalized. An announcement will be coming soon!

We thank you for your patience.

-Team HeroX and Mozilla Voice Team


One day remaining!

Sept. 18, 2019, 9 a.m. PDT by Despina Maliaka

It's not too late! There is one more day to submit your innovative ideas for the Mozilla Voice Challenge. All submissions must be submitted by 19 September 2019 @ 2pm PT (Los Angeles).

In order for your entry to be eligible, your submission must meet the requirements outlined on our crowdsourcing page. 

View the How to Submit your entry video at the following link: https://herox.com/help/98-how-to-submit-an-entry-screencast

Good luck!


Before you submit...

Sept. 16, 2019, 9 a.m. PDT by Despina Maliaka

Dear Innovators,

Submission time is getting closer, and to ensure that you are most set up for success, Mozilla has dropped yet another tip:

 

"Before you start writing your proposed solution--even if you feel that you remember all the important parts of the Challenge--we urge you to read the Challenge description one last time before you submit. First of all, it will refresh your memory on the "Your Solution" section which covers what would make up a quality submission.

 

Secondly, please review the "Judging Scorecard" section. Remember that we'll be judging your proposal by using the six criteria presented here (4 for completeness and 2 for quality). So judge your own submission the same way yourself before we do--and make sure that your proposal meet these criteria.


Lastly, we want to remind you that there is no "ideal" proposal, but by following the outline described above you may dramatically improve your submission and increase the chances of becoming the winner"

 

Good luck!

-Mozilla Voice Challenge Team

 


One week left to submit!

Sept. 12, 2019, 9 a.m. PDT by Despina Maliaka

Hello again innovators,

Time is getting tight! With one week left to submit, you do not want to miss your opportunity to potentially contribute to the future of open-source voice technology!

Remember to submit your ideas before 19 September 2019 @ 2pm PT (Los Angeles).

We are so excited to see what amazing ideas we receive!

Good luck.


Forum3
Teams137