HANCE is a Norwegian company created by the founders of Acon Digital and Soundly with a mission to create the fastest and most adaptable audio enhancement algorithms available. The Hance Audio Engine was released in 2023, allowing machine learning-based, studio-quality audio processing technology with minimal battery consumption and ultra-low processing demands. Now, as an audio partner for Intel’s AI PC initiative, HANCE’s audio processing models will run on Intel’s Neural Processing Unit (NPU), integrated in Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 processor family.
This partnership with Intel marks a pivotal step forward for HANCE, delivering low-latency, energy-efficient, and high-quality audio processing solutions for mobile laptops and desktop PCs.
Intel’s Neural Processing Unit makes it possible to process AI audio in real time with every new AI PC, including being able to run the HANCE’s demanding Stem Separation model, or background noise and echo/reverb removal, while keeping the CPU free. And with the NPU, everything happens locally for instant results and total privacy.
HANCE’s advanced AI models empower laptop and desktop PC OEMs to deliver superior real-time audio experiences with minimal battery consumption and ultra-low processing demands. HANCE has also extended the Hance Audio Engine, which enables real-time model inference for audio processing on CPUs, with an optional wrapper that leverages the OpenVINO open-source software toolkit, thus making it possible to use HANCE models on NPUs through OpenVINO.
“Thanks to Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2 processors for energy-efficient AI Audio Enhancement, HANCE can now isolate, remove, or enhance different sounds locally on a wide range of PC devices with a ground-breaking low level of latency,” says Joote Michal Hika, CEO & Co-founder of HANCE. “This partnership allows us to deliver seamless, real-time audio enhancements that were previously only achievable via cloud-based solutions or large, resource-hungry models. Together with Intel, we’re bringing professional-grade audio enhancement to the world’s most-used consumer devices.”
With real-time 10ms latency, HANCE’s lightweight AI models deliver seamless audio enhancements that rival traditional cloud-based solutions while operating locally on-device. This local processing reduces power consumption and guarantees user privacy by eliminating the need for cloud data transfer. Devices equipped with Intel’s processors will provide enhanced audio clarity, free from background noise, echo, and distortion, making them ideal for applications such as videoconferencing, communications, and content creation on laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.
HANCE specializes in real-time audio enhancement solutions using lightweight AI models that work on-device, with target applications in consumer electronics, communications, and professional audio. The new Intel Core Ultra processor family, with the integrated NPU for AI, does support Windows and Linux, which ensures HANCE’s audio technology reaches the rapidly growing AI PC market, forecasted to reach the ‘100 million units sold’ mark by the end of 2025.
“This partnership isn’t just about tuning our models for the Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2),” added Hika. “It’s about becoming the go-to audio partner for the world’s top OEMs, ensuring that HANCE’s AI technology becomes a standard feature in consumer electronics worldwide.”
www.hance.ai
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