Geneva, Switzerland – 20 January 2021. Moving Picture, Audio and Data Coding by Artificial Intelligence (MPAI), an international unaffiliated standards association, is engaging in two new areas for standardisation: Context-based Audio Enhancement and Multimodal Conversation.

Standards in the Context-based Audio Enhancement (MPAI-CAE) work area will improve the user experience for several audio-related applications in a variety of contexts such as in the home, in the car, on-the-go, in the studio etc. Examples are:

  1. adding emotions to a speech without emotion
  2. preserving old audio tapes
  3. improving the audioconference experience
  4. removing unwanted sounds while keeping relevant sounds to a user walking in the street.

Standards for Multimodal Conversation (MPAI-MMC) work area will enable a human-machine conversation that emulates human-human conversation in completeness and intensity by using AI. Examples are focused on machines

  1. producing speech and animated face that have a level of emotion consistent with the emotion contained in text, speech and face of the human who is talking to the machines;
  2. responding to a question asked by a human who is showing an object;
  3. translating to another language a question asked by a human using a voice with features similar to those of the human.

MPAI plans on publishing Calls for Technologies for these two standards at its next General Assembly on 2021/02/17. The current draft are available here and here.

At its last General Assembly (MPAI-3), MPAI issued a Call for Technologies for its planned AIF Framework (MPAI-AIF) standard. Submissions are due 2020/02/15 for review and action at its next General Assembly (MPAI-5) on 2020/02/17.

The MPAI web site provides information about other MPAI standards being developed: MPAI-CUI uses AI to compress and understand industrial data, MPAI-EVC to improve the performance of existing video codecs, MPAI GSA to understand and compress the res­ults of combining genomic experiments with those produced by related devices/sensors, e.g. video, motion, location, weather, medical sensors, and MPAI-SPG to improve the user experience of online multiplayer games.

MPAI develops data coding standards for applications that have AI as the core enabling technology. Any legal entity that supports the MPAI mission may join MPAI if it is able to contribute to the development of standards for the efficient use of data.

Visit the MPAI home page and contact the MPAI secretariat for specific information.