Who is Switchboard Designed For?
Switchboard is a modular, real-time audio SDK and orchestration layer built to empower developers who are pushing the boundaries of audio, AI, and real-time media experiences. Whether you're building interactive voice agents, voice changers, or collaborative music platforms, Switchboard provides the foundation for rapid prototyping and production deployment.
Here's a breakdown of the core audiences who will benefit most:
Switchboard by Persona
Persona | Description | Superpowers |
|---|---|---|
Product Prototyper / Innovation Lead | Responsible for building POCs that could become flagship features | Drag-and-drop modularity, quick turnarounds for demos, cloud/on-device/hybrid flexibility |
Applied ML Scientist (Speech/Audio) | Iterates on speech pipelines for accuracy, latency, and robustness | Swap STT/TTS/VAD models with minimal friction, benchmark custom models |
Audio R&D Engineer | Builds and tests custom DSP/ML models, audio effects, and signal chains | Bring-your-own-node support, C++ + ONNX graph integration, real-time test harness |
Tools/Platform Engineer | Maintains internal SDKs, tooling, or reusable audio frameworks | Embeddable runtime, language bindings, testable graphs, easy packaging |
Creative Technologist | Works in innovation labs to craft new audio-driven experiences | Modular effects, voice filters, real-time pipelines for interactive UX |
Switchboard by Segment
Segment | Why They Experiment a Lot | Example Personas | Example Companies |
|---|---|---|---|
Voice AI Startups | Need to prototype new pipelines quickly, test models, mix & match STT/LLM/TTS | Founders, CTOs, ML Engineers | ElevenLabs, Vapi, Pipecat, Inworld, Play.ht, Resemble.ai, Syntesia, Rime.ai |
Media & Entertainment R&D Labs | Interactive music/video, watch parties, creator tools | Innovation Labs, Creative Technologists | Spotify R&D, Netflix Device Labs, Dolby.io, Adobe Research, BBC R&D, Canal+ Labs |
Academic / Research Labs | Constantly mixing models, publishing prototypes | PhD Students, Lab Directors, Postdocs | MIT Media Lab, University AI labs, Fraunhofer IIS, INRIA, CMU, NYU MARL |
Automotive & Mobility | In-car voice assistants, rider comms, low-latency audio pipelines | HMI Engineers, Audio Architects, UX Researchers | Mercedes MBUX team, Harley-Davidson Digital, Rivian, Tesla Voice UX, Hyundai Mobis |
Robotics & Assistive Tech | Speech pipelines for human-robot interaction, adaptive audio UX | Robotics AI Engineers, Accessibility Tech Leads | Figure AI, Sanctuary AI, SoundHound, Intuition Robotics, Furhat Robotics, Toyota Research Institute |
Hardware & Embedded Audio Companies | Need to validate DSP/ML models across chipsets and devices | Firmware Engineers, DSP Engineers, Product R&D Leads | Bose, Sonos, Nothing OS, Qualcomm, Apple Audio Systems, Shure Labs |
Gaming & Metaverse Studios | Real-time multiplayer chat, spatial audio, voice changers, AI NPCs | Audio Directors, Game AI Engineers, Tools Developers | Riot Games R&D, Roblox, Rec Room, VRChat, small indie VR studios, Spatial.io |
Telecom & Collaboration Platforms | Competing on latency, voice quality, noise suppression, agent assist | Product Managers, VoIP Engineers | Zoom Labs, Discord, Twilio Voice, Dialpad, RingCentral, Slack Huddles, Around.co |
🛈 Example companies are listed for illustrative purposes only. They represent the kinds of teams who typically face the problems Switchboard is designed to solve.
1. Voice AI Startups
These teams are building novel products where voice is the interface. From AI agents to voice games, they often need:
Real-time speech-to-text (STT), text-to-speech (TTS), VAD, diarization
Voice changers, filters, audio effects
Integration with LLMs and custom AI pipelines
Why Switchboard?
Rapidly experiment with audio pipelines
Combine WebRTC + AI tools in low-latency flows
Deploy on-device, hybrid, or cloud-first
Use cases: Prototype new workflows, talking AI avatars, autonomous agents with voice I/O.
2. Media & Entertainment R&D Labs
Building apps that combine audio, video, or real-time interaction? Whether you're using Unity, Unreal, React Native, or Web, Switchboard simplifies the audio stack:
Bring-your-own-media-player and VoIP modules
Add spatial audio, DSP, voice filters
Trigger effects from in-app events (e.g. game actions)
Why Switchboard?
Quick audio UX iteration for social, gaming, education, or media
Drag-and-drop pipeline editor (coming soon)
Cross-platform SDK: C++, Swift, Kotlin, JavaScript
Use cases: Music remix apps, multiplayer games with voice, metaverse and watch party apps, language learning tools.
3. Academic / Research Labs
For those developing new DSP algorithms, ML audio models, or conducting audio research:
Easily wrap your custom models into Switchboard nodes
Real-time graphs to test processing at frame-level granularity
Integrate ONNX models, WASM, or native C++
Why Switchboard?
Focus on your DSP/ML innovation, not boilerplate
Shareable graphs make it easy to test & collaborate
Optional GUI for audio pipeline inspection
Use cases: Novel vocoders, speech denoisers, voice conversion, academic research.
4. Automotive & Mobility
If you're building speech-enabled user experiences in vehicles, from infotainment to intercom:
Low-latency pipelines for wake-word detection, STT, feedback tones
On-device processing for privacy and speed
Modular voice UX components
Why Switchboard?
Configure real-time speech graphs per vehicle
Test cross-chip performance
Improve rider communication and in-cabin experiences
Use cases: Voice commands in cars, intercom between riders, contextual feedback tones.
5. Robotics & Assistive Tech
Switchboard supports real-time audio intelligence for robots and accessibility solutions:
Adaptable pipelines for human-robot speech interaction
Latency-sensitive assistive feedback (e.g., voice navigation)
Custom models for emotion, intent, or audio scene understanding
Why Switchboard?
Graphs are easy to deploy, modify, and tune
Supports real-time interactivity in physical environments
Works with embedded Linux and edge accelerators
Use cases: Robot speech UX, voice-controlled wheelchairs, adaptive accessibility tools.
6. Hardware & Embedded Audio Companies
For companies building hardware that includes microphones or speakers (headphones, cameras, robots, cars, etc.), Switchboard offers:
Lightweight, embeddable audio graph runtime
Low memory, real-time execution on ARM, NPUs, or embedded Linux
Control audio graphs remotely or locally
Why Switchboard?
Ship audio intelligence to the edge
Use modular graphs to configure audio UX
Future-proof audio stack for multi-modal systems
Use cases: Smart glasses, humanoid robots, automotive voice UX, musical instruments.
7. Gaming & Metaverse Studios
Real-time experiences need real-time audio features:
Multiplayer voice chat, spatial audio
Voice changers, remix effects, AI-driven NPC speech
Integration with game engines like Unity or Unreal
Why Switchboard?
Native SDKs for multiple platforms
Mix and match pipelines in live environments
Great for fast experimentation and event-driven audio
Use cases: VR/AR social hubs, modifiable voice-based gameplay, live creator tools.
8. Telecom & Collaboration Platforms
VoIP products live and die by voice quality and responsiveness:
Agent-assist, transcription, sentiment detection
Noise suppression, echo cancellation, diarization
Fast integrations with internal call stacks
Why Switchboard?
Combine AI pipelines with WebRTC
Rapid testing of voice UX variations
Cross-platform support for mobile, desktop, browser
Use cases: Sales enablement tools, smart meetings, audio-first chat platforms.
In Summary
Switchboard is not for teams building static apps with basic audio playback.
It is for:
Teams who experiment constantly with real-time audio features
Builders who need modularity, latency control, and deployment flexibility
Developers shipping next-gen voice+AI+media experiences
If you're building with audio in the loop—Switchboard is your graph.
Explore more: switchboard.audio