Some students have recently created innovation inventions, including an answering machine with automated speech recognition and an automated trash removal device, both of which can be used in everyday life.

The human-like answering machine

An answering system, which was developed by a group of students from Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Sciences and won second prize in a local information technology contest, is designed to do without human or automated phone operators.

The question and response system, which has been successful on a trial run, operates on automated speech recognition.

According to Dr. Vu Hai Quan, head of the university’s AILab and the project’s overseer, the “virtual person” is the Voice Identifying System (VIS).

After “hearing” the caller’s voice on the other end, the system receives information via its voice recognition unit and responds immediately.

It took the team months to complete the voice recognition technology and “teach” the system to identify Vietnamese. Though Vietnamese dialects spoken by both male and female voices are recognized, Dr. Quan noted that accents adopted by people in some regions, particularly in the central region, can be a barrier to the system.

At the end of 2012, VIS was installed at the University of Natural Sciences, replacing its conventional telephone switchboard. The new system boasts several strengths, including a circuit-switching function which can handle multiple calls at the same time.

VIS can also be used with the university’s voice interactive software to read audio newspapers, offer help to the visually impaired, operate lights and TVs with voices, and assist users in air and bank services offered via phone.

According to Le Ha Minh, one of the team members, not including the hardware, a VIS costs about VND100 million (US$4,717).

Garbage collecting device

Le An Nhien graduated with flying colors from HCMC University of Architecture last year, thanks to her dissertation project, an innovative garbage collecting device.

The device is a pram-sized yellow cart which can collect various kinds of waste. Operating mechanically, the cart has two round brushes at the front which rotate and sweep rubbish as the user pushes it back and forth.

A horizontal brush blocks the garbage, pushing it onto a conveyor belt before shoving it into a drawer-like container. When the container, which is lined with a nylon bag, is full, the user simply has to remove the bag.

The handles can also be adjusted to the user’s height.

Nhien came up with the idea of the device after seeing how  sanitation workers are exposed to garbage, which has a detrimental effect on their health. In addition to being sanitary, Nhien’s device is labor-efficient and time-saving.

Nhien’s project cost around VND20 million ($943), but the cost is expected to be cut to only some VND5 million in mass production.

“I really hope that my device will relieve the work that sanitation workers must do and keep them from direct contact with garbage, especially toxic or dangerous waste. In addition, the cart has a nice design, giving our streets a more civilized and modern look,” Nhien shared.