01 / NATURE AS A STARTING POINT
We hear more
than a microphone does.
Human hearing is an active process. The auditory system separates, organizes, and interprets a complex mixture of sounds. Understanding those mechanisms became a scientific foundation for Lloyd’s work.
At Caltech, he studied cochlear mechanics and analog VLSI with Carver Mead. He later continued research into the human auditory pathway at Interval Research. In 2000, he founded Audience to bring this research into a commercial setting.
From a model
to a company.
Lloyd led Audience as CEO during its first five years, raising its initial $10 million in venture financing. He then served as CTO and later Chief Scientist as the company developed its voice-processing technology.
Audience’s trajectory connects scientific models with the practical challenge of clearer voice communication. Its public listing in 2012 and acquisition by Knowles in July 2015 mark two milestones in that journey.
from how we hear to what we build.
An editorial perspective on the work, rather than a quotation from Lloyd.
The founding story,
in its own voices.
The 2013 documentary The Founding of Audience looks back at the early company, with interviews including Carver Mead, Ray Kurzweil, Allan Crawford, Dave Moore, and George Pavlov.