speech intelligibility engineering

Measured intelligibility for high-stakes communication.

Accent Innovations builds the technology that objectively measures, trains, and certifies speech intelligibility in safety-critical industries - starting with aviation.

US Patent Pending

63/755,979 & 63/903,553

01cleared for takeoff
02line up and wait
03go around
Underline = Vowels that fail intelligibility against SAE corridor
The Problem

When being understood isn't optional.

660,000
new pilots needed globally

The Safety Crisis

ICAO English proficiency has been mandatory since 2008. Accent-related miscommunication is a documented factor in fatal aviation incidents.

Vowels
drive intelligibility most

The Science Gap

Vowels drive intelligibility more than consonants. Yet conventional speech therapy cannot train them - there are no articulatory touch points for vowels.

30+
year-old pooled norms

The Measurement Problem

Legacy scoring uses pooled historical norms that can produce false passes and false fails for diverse speakers.

The Solution

Three technologies. One closed loop.

Diagnosis → Training → Certification. Proprietary methods. Utility patents pending.

METHODForced Prosodic Alignment

ORONYM™

Trains target vowels by anchoring new sounds to familiar ones. Learners produce acoustically correct speech through articulation patterns they already know. No abstract phonetic instruction required.

ENGINEVowel Corridor Assessment Method

VCAM™

Real-time intelligibility scoring against word-specific acoustic corridors, aligned with perceptual reality.

CALIBRATIONCitation-Ready Standard

Pierson (2026)

Corridor norms derived from speaker-calibrated reference data — not legacy pooled datasets. Calibration and runtime use the same validated extraction pipeline. Peer-reviewable results.

Inside the Engine

Observable progression, not black-box scoring.

Every session produces explainable evidence. Instructors and operators see how learners converge on target corridors over time.

Read the methodology →
SAE VOWEL CORRIDORLEARNERF1F2 (Hz)F1 (Hz)/ɑ//ɛ//i//u/
Product Preview

Our first product: Accent Pilot.

Aviation English speech intelligibility - assessed, trained, measured.

Acoustic intelligibility scoring against word-specific SAE targets
Native-language pronunciation guides for faster vowel acquisition
Prosody visualization tied to flight simulation
Admin dashboards with cohort-level progress analytics
app.accentpilot.com
Vowel Accuracy
/ɛ/
45%
/ɪ/
67%
/ɑ/
88%
F1/F2 Position
Validated Momentum

Evidence you can diligence.

Built for serious diligence: measurable science, founder credibility, and a platform architecture that expands beyond one niche.

2

Pending utility patents protecting core method + engine

660K

Projected global pilot demand driving urgent training need

3

Technologies in one closed loop: METHOD, ENGINE, CALIBRATION

Institutional Credibility

Confidence signals for serious stakeholders.

Built on scientific rigor and founder-level execution credibility. Designed for institutional buyers, partners, and investment diligence.

Founder profile

Dr. Katie Pierson

Clinician, researcher, and educator translating years of speech science and aviation communication expertise into a scalable, defensible software platform.

ASHA-credentialed founder (CCC-SLP)
Aviation communication research leadership
Harvard WAI affiliated leadership
Women in Aerospace / FSF speaking credentials

Diligence highlights

Two pending utility patents protecting method and platform architecture

Closed-loop model: training + measurement + calibration in one defensible system

Calibration and runtime pipeline alignment for explainable, auditable scoring

Product commercialization path already active via Accent Pilot

Patent PendingOregon AI AcceleratorOEN FinalistICAO AlignedHarvard WAIFlight Safety Foundation IASS

Building the future of communication safety.

Choose your path: strategic partnership, pilot deployment, or investment diligence with the founding team.