Russian Developers Teach AI to Understand Voice Commands in Noisy Environments
Artificial intelligence built by Yandex engineers can now recognize spoken commands even in the middle of loud background noise, potentially setting a new benchmark for voice tech.
Russian IT specialists have developed an algorithm that significantly boosts the accuracy of voice recognition in high-noise environments. The technology, now implemented in Yandex smart devices, allows speakers to catch commands even against the roar of a vacuum cleaner or running water.
Head of Yandex's voice activation department Dmitry Solodukha:
The breakthrough relies on a neural attention mechanism that listens to two signals simultaneously—one filtered with noise suppression, the other with echo suppression. At every millisecond, the system picks the cleanest audio stream, dramatically improving recognition quality. Tests were run on both high-end server hardware and the relatively weak processors powering Yandex’s smart speakers, proving the solution’s scalability.
Developers hope that publishing the method openly will speed up innovation in voice interfaces worldwide, enabling companies across the globe to build smarter, more reliable assistants.
This advance could change how we interact with technology in noisy settings, making smart devices not just clever, but genuinely useful in the everyday chaos of modern life.
