Bluetooth LE smart presenter introduces voice control and recognition to enhance presentations

iFLYTEK AiPLAY smart presenter uses Nordic’s nRF52810 SoC for wireless remote control, record voiceovers, and execute speech commands

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that Hefei, China-based AI technology company, iFLYTEK, has selected Nordic’s nRF52810 Bluetooth® 5.2/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) multiprotocol System-on-Chip (SoC) to deliver the processing power and wireless connectivity for its ‘iFLYTEK AiPlay’ smart presentation tool.

The iFLYTEK AiPlay combines a traditional laser pointer with wireless remote control and introduces a number of intelligent voice technologies—such as voice recognition and voice recording with noise reduction—designed to make presentation easier and more professional.

We had some issues with audio transmission frame loss. Nordic offered advice on the transmission strategy of the Bluetooth SoC which solved this frame loss problem

Xia Anpang, iFLYTEK

Seamless connectivity

Nordic’s nRF52810 SoC powers the Bluetooth LE wireless connectivity between the iFLYTEK AiPlay and the PC hosting the presentation. This connectivity enables remote control of the presentation and also relays voice data to the PC for recording. Wireless remote control offers a number of advantages over infrared (IR) remote control, including non-line of sight connectivity, greater range, and bidirectional communication. If the PC doesn’t have a built-in Bluetooth transceiver then a Bluetooth-enabled USB dongle, slotted into the end of the presenter when not in use, can be plugged into the PC to complete the wireless link. The iFLYTEK AiPlay also features a USB C port for recharging the smart presenter’s 500mAh lithium battery via a supplied USB cable.

The iFLYTEK AiPlay can also relay a voice recording via the Bluetooth wireless connectivity to a piece of companion software - the ‘Smart Presentation Manager’ - that runs on the host PC. This software compiles the presentation voiceover with relevant slides as sound and text files for archiving and sharing after the presentation

Voice processing

In addition to powering the Bluetooth wireless connectivity, Nordic’s nRF52810 SoC’s 64MHz, 32-bit Arm® Cortex® M4 processor with 192kB Flash memory and 24kB RAM satisfies all the computational demands for the iFLYTEK AiPlay, including the voice processing, ambient background noise filtering, and identification and execution of voice commands. The SoC combines the Arm processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio (supporting Bluetooth 5.2, ANT™ and proprietary 2.4GHz RF protocol software). The nRF52810 has been engineered to minimize power consumption for longer battery life.

The nRF52810 SoC is supplied with Nordic’s S112 SoftDevice, a Bluetooth 5-compliant RF protocol software “stack”. Nordic’s software architecture ensures a clear separation between the stack and iFLYTEK’s application code. This separation simplifies development by ensuring the RF protocol remains uncorrupted during compiling, testing, and verification of the smart presenter’s application code.

“The factors affecting our decision to use nRF52810 SoC include size, price, and CPU performance,” says Xia Anpang, reader and writer staff, iFLYTEK. “We also received good technical support. For example, during the R&D stage of the iFLYTEK AiPlay, we had some issues with audio transmission frame loss. Nordic offered advice on the transmission strategy of the Bluetooth SoC which solved this frame loss problem.”