Kinga-AI/izwi

Izwi – Real-time, fluent Shona Voice Assistant built entirely with open-source tech (Whisper.cpp, Mistral LLM, Coqui TTS). # 🎙️ Izwi - Real-Time Shona Voice Assistant 🇿🇼 *Izwi* ("Voice" in Shona) is a state-of-the-art, open-source, real-time speech-to-speech AI assistant that speaks fluent Shona. Built with cutting-edge ML models and optimized for ultra-low latency (<1s end-to-end), it enables natural voice conversations in Shona for millions of native speakers worldwide. --- ## 🌟 Key Features - ✅ **Real-time Streaming**: Full duplex audio streaming with <500ms time-to-first-word - ✅ **Native Shona**: Culturally-aware, fluent Shona understanding and generation - ✅ **Ultra-Low Latency**: Sub-second conversation flow (<1s end-to-end) - ✅ **Zero-Budget Ready**: Runs on CPU, deployable on free tiers (HF Spaces, Fly.io) - ✅ **Production-Grade**: WebSocket/WebRTC support, session management, observability - ✅ **Modular Architecture**: Swappable ASR/LLM/TTS engines for A/B testing - ✅ **Privacy-First**: Run entirely offline, opt-in data collection, PII redaction - ✅ **Fully Open Source**: Built entirely on open-source software with Apache-2.0 license --- ## 📚 Documentation - Architecture - System architecture and design principles - System Design - Detailed component interactions - Technical Specs - API specifications and schemas - Task Roadmap - Comprehensive development tasks with acceptance criteria - API Reference - REST and WebSocket API documentation - Latency Engineering - Performance optimization strategies - MLOps - Model training and deployment pipelines - Data Strategy - Data collection and preparation - Security & Privacy - Security measures and privacy policies - Deployment Guide - Deployment instructions for various platforms - Configuration Guide - Detailed configuration options - Development Guide - Development setup and workflows --- ## 🎯 Use Cases - **Education**: Shona language learning, pronunciation practice, interactive storytelling - **Accessibility**: Voice interface for Shona speakers with disabilities - **Customer Service**: Automated Shona customer support …