Notification
02/14/2019 Learned Model submission page opened.
02/21/2019 Stage2 page opened.

This competition takes 2 stages to decide winners. Please check "Procedure of the competition" at the bottom of this page and submit the learned model of your last posted result by the end of stage 1 from following "learned model submission page".




Overview

Recently, applications utilizing voice user interface are becoming more and more popular. In those applications, there is a need to make much more context aware responses by considering user profiles. To this end, NTT has organized this competition, called NTT corevo (*1) challenge. In this competition, we ask you to identify speakers’ ages and genders from short voice data (a few seconds).

(*1) NTT Group has adopted the unified brand name of “corevo” for all of its initiatives that utilize the various AI-related technologies that the group has developed through its R&D

Challenge

In this competition, NTT asks you to create a model which classifies voice data recorded by smart phones into 6 classes (gender x age).

- gender
Male, female : 2 classes

- age
Children (8 to 12 ages, before voice breaking), adult (20 to 50 ages), elderly adult (over 65 ages) : 3 classes

Training data consist of 37,806 samples. For the stage 1 evaluation, there are 17,888 samples. The average length of voice data is about 6 seconds and sampling frequency is 16 KHz.

Procedure of the competition

This competition takes 2 stages to decide winners.

- stage 1
As normal competitions, we ask you to create a model and submit a prediction result for test data (data A) from the start of the competition to the end date of stage 1. Use score board as the guide, create generalized model.
Note that you must submit a model itself as well which you selected, by the end of the stage 1. You can submit a model using the submission page from February onwards. You don’t need to submit a model each time, but you can submit multiple models as well. In this case, your last submission will be regarded as your final model. Be sure that you cannot submit a model after the end of the stage 1.

- stage 2
To evaluate an ability of generalization of your model, we will publish new data (data B). You need to submit prediction result for data B by using a model you eventually selected. We will decide final standings by this prediction result.Caution : You shouldn’t change/modify a model which you selected in the stage 1. If you do it, you will be disqualified with the competition. So, please be careful especially when you deal with random numbers.

Evaluation
- This competition is evaluated on the 「Macro F1」
- Evaluation score is greater than 0 and bigger score will be better accuracy
- Objective variables are {gender} x {age} : 6 classes


Decision of final standings
1.Final standing will be decided based on evaluation score in the stage 2.(* The leaderboard will be changed to the final standings at the end of the competition)

2.In the case of tied scores, a score in the stage 1 will be considered. If the stage 1 scores are tied as well, the date of participation of competitor will be considered (we favor early participants).

3.You must submit items shown below after the completion
　- Source codes of a prediction model
　- Learned model
　- A document of procedure to reproduce prediction results (clarify pre-processing, learning, prediction parts)
　- Execution environment (version of OS, software, analyze methods)
　- Random seed (if you used a method which utilize random numbers like random forest)
　- The degree of contributions of each explanatory variable to a prediction model (if you use a method which can calculate the degree of contribution)
　- Your interpretation of data, technical points, thoughts you got through modeling

4.Candidates for winners will be disqualified during the evaluation term of reproducibility when the cases of below:
　- When you do not respond for requests from Signate by designated deadlines
　- Dissatisfied conditions of participation and rules of the competition
　- Submitted model lacks reproducibility
　- Submitted cannot predict for new data

The conditions of participation
- You agree that you do not use, copy data provided by this competition for purposed other than this competition or open the data to a third-party.
- You agree that you do not use all the rights regarding with computer programs which you get through this competition for commercial purpose.
- You agree that you will delete all the data provided from this competition as soon as the competition ends.
- You agree that all the conditions of the participation term.
*The conditions of participation above is given priority over the participation term

Premise
Please keep in mind to create a practical model as each competition, in principle, has its own goal such as achieving business challenges, solving social problems, and sharing results of studies.

One account per individual
You may have one account per participant.

Creating a team
Please follow these procedure to create a team.
　1. Create a SIGNATE account for each member.
　2. Send us a mailing list of the team by a team leader's email address.
Please use a team leader's account to submit predictions.

No private sharing
Sharing code or data outside of teams is not permitted.

Use of data
- You can use data other than data provided from the competition, but you need to submit that data when you selected as a winner.
- You can increase training data by data augmentation methods.
- You cannot submit manually labeled result as evaluation result. But, you can change labels as the data cleansing process.

Deployment
- You can use any programming languages.
- You cannot use API service.
- You can use pre-trained mode. But, you need to submit that model for evaluation of the reproducibility.
- You can use ensemble learning which use more than two different models like stacking, bagging, boosting.
- Your source code should be divided into three parts (pre-processing, training, prediction).

Example of python
1.preprocess.py
A module for loading provided data, pre-processing the data and outputting of file as input data for a model. You need to define functions which do pre-processing for training and testing, like get_train_data and get_test_data.
2.train.py
A module for loading a file created by module 1 and training a model. You should define functions which output a trained model, features and evaluation results from cross-validation.
In this competition, you need to submit a trained-model. So, do not forget to define function which save a trained model.
3.predict.py
A module for loading test data created by module 1 and a model created by module 2 and outputting prediction results as a file.
Please be sure to keep the way of coding to load a trained model and derive prediction results.

Disclosure policy

As a general rule, in accordance with Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the terms of participation, diclosing any contents such as insights and deliverables transmitted through the information or data provided by our company in relation to this competition is not permitted, however, only after the completion of this competition and for non-commercial purposes, it will be possible to disclose the contents within the score of the table below
Model *1
Private
Analysis results *2
Private
Public : Posting to social media sites, blogs and source repositories, and citing to papers
Restricted : Using in a limited range from research, education to seminars, where many unspecified people cannot access
*1 Execution unit source code and learned models
*2 The insights obtained using the information and data provided, or the solutions including scripts and processed data such as summary statistics

- You agree that you do not use, copy data provided by this competition for purposed other than this competition or open the data to a third-party.
- You agree that you do not use all the rights regarding with computer programs which you get through this competition for commercial purpose.
- You agree that you will delete all the data provided from this competition as soon as the competition ends.
- You agree that all the conditions of the participation term
*The conditions of participation above is given priority over the participation term


In order to participate in the Competition, you are required to agree to these Terms, in addition to the Terms of Use of SIGNATE.JP Site (hereinafter referred to as the “Terms of Use”). You should participate in the Competition after reading carefully and agreeing to these Terms. If you agree, these Terms, the matters that are added to these Terms as "additional matters", the Terms of Use and other terms and conditions that you have agreed to shall be binding on the relevant parties as integral documents.


Article 1. Definitions

１.For the purpose of these Terms, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

(１)"Site" means the website "SIGNATE (https://signate.jp)” on which the Competitions are posted.
(２)"Competition" means any competition on AI development or data analysis on the Site as held by the Host.
(３)"Host" is the host(s) of the Competitions. The Host may be SIGNATE, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) or the Company’s client companies, affiliated companies, schools or organizations, etc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Client(s)”).
(４)"Participant(s)" means the member(s) who participate in a Competition.
(５)"Submissions" means, collectively, the analysis and prediction results and reports, etc. as submitted in the Competition.
(６)"Final Submissions" means the Submissions that are specified by a Participant on the prescribed page in the Site by the time of completion of a Competition.
(７)"Winner Candidate" means the Participant who has received a notice from the Company that he/she is nominated as a winner candidate.
(８)"Submissions for Final Judgment" means the analysis and prediction model and learning data, etc. as submitted by a Winner Candidate pursuant to the instructions of the Company.
(９)"Final Judgment" means the acceptance inspection and judgment, including reproducibility verification, by the Company for the Final Submissions and Submissions for Final Judgment of a Winner Candidate.
(１０)"Winner" means the Winner Candidate who is informed by the Company that he/she has won a prize.
２.Unless otherwise defined in these Terms, the terms used in these Terms that are defined in the Terms of Use shall have the same meaning as defined in the Terms of Use.

Article 2. Competition

１.A member who desires to participate in a Competition shall be required to agree to these Terms and to satisfy the conditions for participation as specified in each such Competition. Any person who is not a member shall not participate in any Competition.
２.Participants shall participate in each Competition in the manner as advised by the Company and shall be obligated to comply with the rules as prescribed in each Competition.
３.Participants may submit the Submissions for the assignment of each Competition during the period of such Competition and submit a proposal on the method of solving the problem to the Host by the end of the period of the said Competition.
４.Participants may submit the Final Submissions in the form specified in each Competition by the time specified by the said Competition.
５.The Final Submissions as submitted shall be evaluated by the evaluation method as specified in each Competition and the final rank order shall be determined based on such evaluation.
６.Any Participant may, as a general rule, check the evaluation results of the Participant him/herself and each of the other Participants on the Site for the Submissions that may be evaluated quantitatively.
７.Participants shall be liable or otherwise responsible for their own Submissions, including their legality.
８.Participants shall not submit any Submissions that have no direct relationship to each Competition.
９.Unless otherwise provided for, Participants shall not directly communicate to, consult with, make a request to, solicit or take any other actions with the Host in respect of the matters related to a Competition during the period of the said Competition.
１０.Any Participant who has uncertainty or questions about any Competition shall make sure to contact the Company or its designee through the procedures prescribed by the Company as posted on the Site.
１１.The Company shall not be obligated to pay any remuneration or other consideration other than those prescribed in the following Article for any act of the Participants as prescribed in paragraphs hereof.

Article 3 Reward and Vesting of Rights

１.Unless otherwise provided for, any Participant shall satisfy the following requirements in order to be entitled to receive a reward in any Competition that offers a reward:

(１)To be a winner;
(２)To agree to transfer to the Host and the relevant transferee of rights in such Competition all transferable rights, such as copyrights, rights to obtain patents and know-how, etc. in and to all analysis and prediction results, reports, analysis and prediction model, algorithm, source code and documentations for the model reproducibility, etc., and the Submissions contained in the Final Submissions and Submissions for Final Judgment (including the rights as prescribed in Article 27 and Article 28 of the Copyright Act and the rights to obtain patents; hereinafter referred to as the "Rights");
(３)To agree that any relevant transferee of rights exclusively has the right to use the know-how contained in the Final Submissions and Submissions for Final Judgment for its own business and other purpose without any restriction;
(４)To agree not to exercise moral rights to the Rights against the relevant transferee of rights;
(５)To enter into an agreement for the transfer of the Rights with the relevant eligible transferee of rights, including the agreement to the matter in the preceding three (3) items and other reasonable provisions;
(６)To have the personal identity of such Participant verified by the Company.
(７)Not to breach any provision of these Terms and the Terms of Use.

２.Any Winner Candidate shall, after having received a notice from the Company that he/she is nominated as a winner candidate, submit the Submissions for Final Judgment on or before the designated date and communicate the matters requiring confirmation or response in relation to the Final Submissions and the Submissions for Final Judgment to the Company on or before the designated date, in accordance with the instructions of the Company. The Company shall carry out the final judgment based on such matters requiring confirmation or response. If the Company receives no confirmation or response satisfactory to the Company on or before the designated date, the Company may exclude such Winner Candidate from the subject of the final judgment.
３.If the Company considers that the Final Submissions or Submissions for Final Judgment need to be amended or modified, or there occur any additional matters requiring confirmation, in the course of the final judgment, any Winner Candidate shall take action or make response in relation to the matters that require amendment, etc. or the detailed information on the matters requiring confirmation, on or before the designated date in accordance with the instructions of the Company. If the Company receives no action or response satisfactory to the Company on or before the designated date, the Company may exclude such Winner Candidate from the final judgment.
４.The Company shall determine the Winner through the final judgment and inform the Winner to that effect.

Article 4 Confidentiality

１.Any Participant shall treat any information and data that they receive from the Company in relation to each Competition (hereinafter referred to as the "Company-Provided Information") as confidential information and shall not disclose the same to any third party and use the same for any purpose other than for such Competition and purpose specified by the Company separately; provided, however, that the confidential information shall not include any information that falls under any of the following items:

(１)Information that is known to the public at the time of the disclosure;
(２)Information that is already possessed by the Participant at the time of the disclosure (only in the case where such Participant may demonstrate such fact by reasonable means);
(３)Information that becomes known to the public without the fault of the Participant after the disclosure;
(４)Information that is independently developed by the Participant without reference to any information as disclosed (except for those Submissions of the person eligible for a prize which are evaluated); or
(５)Information that is rightfully disclosed by any third party having a right to do so without the obligations of confidentiality (only in the case where such Participant may demonstrate such fact by reasonable means).

２.Any Participant shall delete or return to the Company the Company-Provided Information immediately after the completion of each Competition.
３.Any Winner shall handle his/her Final Submissions and Submissions for Final Judgment in the same manner as prescribed in paragraph 1 hereof.
４.If there is any separate arrangement in relation to the confidential information in each Competition, the provisions of such arrangement shall prevail over the provisions of these Terms.
５.If any dispute occurs between the Host or other third party and the Company due to the breach by any Participant of the provisions of this Article and such other party makes any claim against the Company, such Participant shall compensate for any damage, loss, expenses (including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees), lost profits and lost revenues, etc. incurred by the Company.
６.The provisions of this Article shall survive the termination of the relevant Competition or the Participant’s completion of the procedures for withdrawal from the service of the Company, with respect to the Company-Provided Information and the Winner’s Final Submissions and Submissions for Final Judgment for a period of five (5) years thereafter.

Article 5 Prohibited Acts of Participants

１．The Company shall prohibit Participants from engaging in any of the following acts in any Competition:

(１)An act of cracking, cheating, spoofing other misconduct;
(２)An act of directly communicating to, consulting with, making a request to, soliciting or responding to solicitation or other activities to other Participants or the Host (other than the Company) without the involvement of the Company;
(３)Any profitmaking activities using the Competition (including solicitation or scouting activities, and use for a third party in educational business, etc.) without the prior approval of the Company in writing or any other manner specified by the Company;
(４)Transfer, offering as collateral or other disposition of the status as a Participant or the rights or obligations as a Participant (except with the prior written consent of the Company); and
(５)Any other act in breach of the Terms of Use.

２.If the Company deems that a Participant engages in any of the prohibited acts as prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the Company may, without prior notice to the Participant, disqualify the Participant from the Competition in which the Participant participates, temporarily suspend the Participant from using the service of the Company, withdraw the Participant’s membership, claim damages from the Participant or take any other measures deemed necessary by the Company.

Article 6. Change, Discontinuation or Termination of Provision of Services under These Terms

１.The Company may change or temporarily suspend the services provided by the Company under these Terms without prior notice to the members.
２.Upon one (1) month prior notice to the members, the Company may suspend for a long period of time or terminate the services provided by the Company under these Terms.
３.The Company shall not be liable for any results or damage arising from the measures taken by the Company under this Article.

Article 7 Modification of Terms

１.The Company may modify, add or delete any provisions of these Terms from time to time without the approval of the members.

Enforced on April 1, 2018