Sesame Investigates Speech Recognition

Sesame Workshop and ToyTalk have signed a two-year research partnership agreement to explore ways to advance literacy learning among preschool-aged children. 

The research will aim to develop best practices that will inform a variety of future products and services and investigate how speech recognition can be used as a tool for learning, engagement and social development.

Using ToyTalk’s proprietary PullString Technology, the partners will investigate the development of speech-driven games and stories that might potentially feature interactive Sesame Street characters. 

“Today, speech recognition is primarily a tool of convenience and utility.  If you’re looking for the nearest coffee shop, you can ask your smartphone,” says Miles Ludwig, managing director, content innovation lab, Sesame Workshop. “But what if parents could use speech recognition to engage their children in a content experience? What if children could have a two-way conversation in real-time with some of their favorite characters? Working with ToyTalk, which has developed unique solutions to the obstacles that previously made understanding kids’ speech difficult, if not impossible, we can develop new approaches to early literacy learning for children.”