Take Part in the 2025 Low-Resource Audio Codec (LRAC) Challenge

We’re excited to invite you to the 2025 LRAC Challenge!

This edition is about building efficient neural speech codecs capable of running on devices with limited resources and effective in real-world noisy environments.

The growing demand for speech interfaces in embedded systems, mobile devices, and other resource-constrained environments requires codecs that are efficient, high-performing, and robust under challenging conditions. The LRAC Challenge offers a unique opportunity to:

• Tackle the open challenge of jointly optimizing compute, latency, and bitrate constraints.
• Explore the integration of speech enhancement and neural coding.
• Benchmark your solutions with objective metrics and listener-based evaluations.
• Disseminate your findings through an ICASSP 2026 Satellite Workshop (subject to acceptance).
• Collaborate with researchers, students, and industry leaders at the forefront of this field.

Key dates:

• Registration is open
• Challenge runs: August 1 – September 30, 2025
• Submissions are due: October 1, 2025
• Notification of results: October 14, 2025
• Full-day workshop: May 2026 (day is TBD)

Learn more and sign up at: https://lrac.short.gy/participate