{"id":18433,"date":"2024-04-15T13:39:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T11:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plnt.nl\/?post_type=nieuwsberichten&p=18433"},"modified":"2024-04-22T10:08:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T08:08:22","slug":"whispp-gives-people-with-disabilities-their-voice-back","status":"publish","type":"nieuwsberichten","link":"https:\/\/plnt.nl\/en\/news\/whispp-gives-people-with-disabilities-their-voice-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Whispp gives people with disabilities their voice back"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Have you ever wondered where business founders discover the inspiration for their companies? For Joris Castermans, CEO of Whispp, all it took was a look at his own life.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Growing up with a moderate severe stutter, young Joris often felt socially isolated. He found it difficult to make friends and struggled with seemingly simple tasks such as making phone calls. So what did he do? He came up with a solution: Whispp.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What does Whispp do?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Whispp is an assistive voice technology app that uses artificial intelligence to convert whispered and affected speech into a clear, natural-sounding voice. It allows users to make phone calls through the app, while converting their whispers or affected voice into their natural-sounding voice, complete with the right intonation and emotion. <\/p>\n

“It was originally meant for people who stutter severely,” explains Joris, “because they tend to speak fluently when they whisper.” Over time, Whispp has expanded its reach beyond this initial idea, and today, it caters to a much broader audience, including people with voice disabilities as well as those who may have lost their voice due to illness, trauma, or old age.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How dit Whispp get started?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe starting point was this insight that I had from being a stutterer myself; I wanted to see how I can use the positive effects of whispering to my advantage,\u201d Joris recalls. \u201cI came into contact with an IT company that was interested in AI, so we wrote a joint grant proposal. At that moment, we also hired a really good AI Master student from the University of Amsterdam \u2014 and we got to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Whispp launched as a simple website, interest in it quickly grew beyond the stuttering community. \u201cQuickly, many people with voice disorders reached out to me: people with throat cancer, vocal cord paralysis, spasmodic dysphonia \u2014 there are heaps of voice disorders where the vocal cords don\u2019t function anymore, or they are removed,\u201d Joris explains. Over the next few years, Whispp secured grants, obtained innovation loans, attracted investment funds, garnered global press coverage \u2014 and won even more grants. Today Whispp\u2018s team is made up of nine people, and the technology behind it, which started as a simple website, is now its own app.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What about the promising student from the UvA? His name is Akash Raj, and he\u2019s now the company\u2019s Chief Technology Officer!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What role did PLNT play in Whispp\u2019s Startup Story?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cI have been at PLNT ever since I started my journey with Whispp \u2014 because I live in Leiden and I really wanted to come to the office with my bike,\u201d Joris laughs. \u201cI wanted to be part of the Leiden ecosystem and feel the connection between the place I live and the place I work \u2014 and now I definitely do.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if he gained anything from being at PLNT, Joris doesn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, the positive vibe of being here, having lunch with my team \u2014 and really just the inspiring ecosystem of PLNT.\u201d For example, \u201cOur software engineer, Thom, was originally working at MIDI here, and he\u2019s now one of our core team members, all thanks to PLNT.\u201d Secondly, \u201cwhen it comes to fundraising, we greatly profited from being at PLNT thanks to its partnership with Leiden University. The latter actually helped us cross that first, really difficult funding phase \u2014 and that has been really, really impactful.\u201d <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How does Whispp help people?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cI think that speaks for itself,\u201d Joris smiles. And indeed it does \u2014 literally. By giving those who need it their voice back, Whispp breaks down communication barriers and empowers individuals with speech disabilities to communicate confidently.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to help those who have an affected voice or stutter severely to be themselves again, and to express themselves.\u201d In doing so, Whispp not only have a meaningful real-work impact, but also inspires empathic innovation in assistive technology, and makes significant steps towards a more inclusive world.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What\u2019s in store for Whispp\u2019s future?<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cOf course, being a startup is really cool, but having a global reach is difficult,\u201d Joris smiles. \u201cMy biggest dream is to help the 300 million people who need it.\u201d One day, Joris hopes that his technology can be a fixed part of our devices, and help those who lost their voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI envision Whispp as an integrated feature on your laptop or your phone, where those who need it can just select the Whispp-microphone instead or the normal one.\u201d In their quest for growth, the Whispp team is always on the move, expanding their network at industry events and looking to connect with industry experts.<\/p>\n

Word on the street is that they recently crossed paths with the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, at CES in Las Vegas \u2014 and are now in touch with the Microsoft accessibility team! The future looks promising for Whispp as they continue to hustle and make waves in the industry \u2014 and we\u2019re excited to see where their journey will take them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore about Whispp<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"featured_media":18426,"template":"","class_list":["post-18433","nieuwsberichten","type-nieuwsberichten","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhispp gives people with disabilities their voice back - PLNT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever wondered where business founders discover the inspiration for their companies? 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