High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Machine listening is a technique using software and hardware to extract meaningful information from audio signals. The engineer Paris Smaragdis, interviewed in Technology Review, talks about these systems --"software that uses sound to locate people moving through rooms, monitor machinery for impending breakdowns, or activate traffic cameras to record accidents." Based upon the answers, the judge must decide which is which. In 2008 a variety of judges, including experts and non-experts, adults and children, native and non-native English speakers participated in the University of Reading hosted contest.