Google launched a beta app today that people with speech impairments can use as a voice assistant while contributing to a multiyear research effort to improve Google’s speech recognition. The goal is to make Google Assistant, as well as other features that use speech to text and speech to speech, more inclusive of users with neurological conditions that affect their speech.

The new app is called Project Relate, and volunteers can sign up at g.co/ProjectRelate. To be eligible to participate, volunteers need to be 18 or older and “have difficulty being understood by others.” They’ll also need a Google account and an Android phone using OS 8 or later. For now, it’s only available to English speakers in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They’ll be tasked with recording 500 phrases, which should take between 30 to 90 minutes to record.VOLUNTEERS WILL GET ACCESS TO THREE NEW FEATURES ON THE RELATE APP

After sharing their voice samples, volunteers will get access to three new features on the Relate App. It can transcribe their speech in real time. It also has a feature called “Repeat” that will restate what the user said in “a clear, synthesized voice.” That can help people with speech impairments when having conversations or when using voice commands for home assistant devices. The Relate App also connects to Google Assistant to help users turn on the lights or play a song with their voices.

Without enough training data, other Google apps like Translate and Assistant haven’t been very accessible for people with conditions like ALS, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or Parkinson’s disease. In 2019, Google started Project Euphonia, a broad effort to improve its AI algorithms by collecting data from people with impaired speech. Google is also training its algorithms to recognize sounds and gestures so that it can better help people who cannot speak. That work is still ongoing; Google and its partners still appear to be collecting patients’ voices separately for Project Euphonia.

“I’m used to the look on people’s faces when they can’t understand what I’ve said,” Aubrie Lee, a brand manager at Google whose speech is affected by muscular dystrophy, said in a blog post today. “Project Relate can make the difference between a look of confusion and a friendly laugh of recognition.”

Earbuds have been the listening choice of many for ages, and sales of wireless earbuds took off when Apple removed the headphone jack of the iPhone 7 and released AirPods. Since then, seemingly every brand under the sun, and even some resurrected from the depths, have released true wireless earbuds. Some are small and cheap. Some are big and expensive. Some have one-size-fits-most hard plastic designs. Some have user-replaceable rubber tips that accommodate different size ears. But one thing that unites all earbuds is that, eventually, they get disgustingly gross, with a buildup of earwax and debris that can hinder sound quality and reduce overall volume output. As a result, you should take the time to clean them once in a while.

Here we go over some of the various ways you can clean your earbuds — encompassing hard plastic and soft rubber-tipped earbuds — using basic tools and methods that anyone can feel comfortable using. Our goal is to get your earbuds nice and clean with minimal risk of damage.

A SMALL WORD OF CAUTION

It’s important to keep in mind that most manufacturers advise cleaning earbuds with only a clean microfiber cloth or dry cotton swab. Instructions from major manufacturers like Samsung and Apple advise refraining from using rubbing alcohol or other liquids. A simple alcohol wipe might be fine for some surfaces if kept away from any speaker grills, mic holes, or charging ports — but it does present some dangers. If you try using any wet processes or cleaners, you do so at your own risk. And it may sound obvious, but it bears emphasizing: never submerge earbuds or charging cases in any type of liquid to clean them.

STARTING WITH THE BASICS

A “less is more” approach is always the way to go when cleaning electronics. So let’s begin by going over the simplest and least risky ways of cleaning the buildup from most earbuds. Begin with the most basic cleaning tools and work your way up until the earbuds are adequately clean. There’s no need to get invasive with a toothpick if a puff of air takes care of it, right? Always start small before jumping to extremes, and use only what the job calls for.

Many of the tools mentioned here are common household items. You can buy cleaning kits for earbuds that have a lot of similar tools, but you may already have what you need.

FORCED AIR

While blowing air from your mouth into your earbuds might knock away some dust or flakey earwax, it will most likely be inadequate, and you could inadvertently deposit tiny bits of saliva onto something that goes in your ears — not exactly sanitary. Try the following tools:

• A bulb / rocket blower
• Canned air

For hard plastic earbuds, point the dirty speaker grills away from you and toward the floor. Try pointing the blower up and into the earbud speaker grills, away from your face. You want to prevent any debris from potentially flying towards your eyes (it doesn’t hurt to wear glasses or basic protective eyewear — nobody is going to judge you), and you also want gravity on your side.