The Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM) welcomes the acquisition of SOVO Technologies by VITAC Corp, the largest provider of subtitling and accessibility services in the United States. SOVO is a Quebec-based spin-off from CRIM, specializing in the production of high-quality subtitles in very short turnaround times, for television and web broadcasts of live events. This acquisition will enable SOVO, which has over 90 employees, to accelerate its growth over the next few years.
CRIM is proud of the spin-offs from SOVO. Initially, the E-Inclusion research network, headed by CRIM and funded by Canadian Heritage, aimed to develop digital inclusion technologies to improve the quality of life of the hearing and visually impaired. CRIM experts in artificial intelligence and automatic speech processing developed the first versions of a live captioning system.
The SOVO team then continued to invest in R&D to ensure that it could respond adequately to the needs of the market, first French-speaking, then English-speaking in recent years. The company’s sustained commitment to applied research has spurred its growth and enabled it to develop a privileged relationship with VITAC.
A Quebec-based technology, initially developed by CRIM and later enhanced with SOVO, is now used to produce subtitles for numerous broadcasters, including some of the biggest American TV networks. This technology has enabled hundreds of thousands of Quebec citizens to significantly improve their television viewing experience and quality of life by providing them with quality subtitles for events broadcast in real time.
