Yobikoe is your karate tournament announcer (formerly known as Voice Announcer), turning schedules and competitor data into clear calls to the tatami. Use templates for preparation calls, competitor introductions and medal ceremonies, with natural speech in up to 74 languages. Your operator can review each announcement before playback or use a fully automated scan-and-play workflow.
Start with a spreadsheet, an export from your tournament management platform, or an API supplying your schedule and competitor data. Connect the names, countries, categories and tatami assignments to announcement templates. Use the data behind your brackets to give each spoken call the details your competitors and coaches need.
Choose the tatami and the relevant age or weight category for your kata or kumite announcement. Where the call needs them, include the competitor assignments for aka (red) and ao (blue) in the template. Review the selection so the spoken instructions match the category you are calling.
At the tatami, scan the barcode on the printed bracket or schedule to bring up the right announcement templates. In a semi-automated workflow, the operator reviews the announcement before it plays. Choose fully automated scan and play when that is the right workflow for your tournament.
Preview a warm-up call, a final call or a medal ceremony announcement before sending it to the hall. Check the names, category and tatami so the message says exactly what you intend. Play the announcement from the browser or send an RTSP stream into your venue AV setup.
See how placeholders such as {{ athlete }}, {{ country }} and {{ tatami }} turn tournament data into a spoken call. A speech directive such as [urgently] can give a final call the delivery you want without recording another version at a microphone.
schedule.csv[urgently] Attention please, {{ athlete }}, {{ country }}. Proceed to tatami number {{ tatami }}. Last call!Attention please, Hana Varga, Slovensko. Proceed to tatami number 2. Last call!
Every age and weight category ends with results to read out and competitors to call to the podium by name and country. Repeating those calls from a results sheet throughout the day takes time and leaves room for mistakes. Yobikoe turns your existing results data from a spreadsheet, a tournament management platform export or an API into spoken announcements for each category.
Connect the category, placings, competitor names and countries to templates for podium calls and medal ceremonies. Yobikoe generates the announcements in your configured languages, with native pronunciation of names and countries and support for up to 74 languages. Your operator can check each announcement before playback, so the results and podium calls reach the hall without someone reading every entry into a microphone.
At an international karate tournament, the same call needs to reach competitors and coaches who speak different languages. Yobikoe generates one call in all configured languages, with support for up to 74 languages. Foreign names and countries are pronounced natively, keeping the competitor’s identity clear within the announcement. Prepare the wording around the same athlete, category and tatami data so each language carries the same practical instructions.
Yobikoe has already delivered announcements at the karate events shown below, including open competition across all age categories and youth championships. Watch the event video to hear the system in a tournament setting.
Karate events announced by Yobikoe
Bratislavský pohár mládeže a Majstrovstvá BÚKKarate, Viničné
4. Memoriál Milana KarafuKarate, Budokan Samaria
46. Grand Prix Slovakia 2026Karate, BratislavaYour announcement workflow needs to accommodate category changes, tatami reassignments and unfamiliar names throughout the day. Yobikoe connects templates to tournament data and generates the spoken call, while your team chooses how much operator review to keep. No recording studio, voice actor or audio engineer is needed to produce routine announcements.
| Approach | Category changes and tatami reassignments | Foreign names | All-day fatigue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human announcer on mic all day | Reads each revised assignment | Depends on speaker's pronunciation | Repeated speaking throughout the day |
| Pre-recorded clips | Replace clips when details change | Pronunciation fixed in recording | Playback needs no live speaking |
| Generic text-to-speech | Depends on the data connection | Depends on voice and language | Generated voice needs no rest |
| Yobikoe | Generate calls from updated data | Native pronunciation of names | Automates repeated spoken calls |
Yobikoe can turn spreadsheets, databases and APIs into spoken announcements, so a spreadsheet export can be your starting point. For a tournament management platform, the connection depends on the data it makes available through an export or API. Bring a sample containing competitor names, categories and tatami assignments to the demo so we can discuss your announcement workflow using your own structure.
You can include the relevant tatami in each announcement through your data and templates. For a tournament running several tatamis at once, plan whether calls should reach the whole hall or separate speaker areas. Browser playback and RTSP streaming provide playback options; the arrangement for separate areas needs to be checked against your venue AV setup before the event.
The operator scans the barcode on a printed bracket or schedule, and Yobikoe brings up the right templates for that item. In the semi-automated workflow, the operator reviews the prepared announcement before playing it. In the fully automated workflow, scanning creates and plays the announcement, so decide beforehand which calls should go straight to the speakers and which need review.
Yobikoe supports native pronunciation of names and countries, with announcements in up to 74 languages. For a roster containing Japanese, Slovak and Hungarian names, use actual competitor entries when previewing your calls. Listening to those names within the complete announcement lets you check the intended pronunciation and wording before competitors are called to the tatami.
Yobikoe can generate and play routine competitor calls without someone reading each announcement into a microphone. You can keep a human announcer for commentary, introductions or moments that need a personal response, while Yobikoe handles calls from tournament data. An operator can review announcements in the semi-automated workflow, or you can configure barcode scans to trigger playback directly.
Event pricing starts from 99 EUR per event, excluding VAT. For your one-day tournament, see the pricing page and use the demo to discuss the calls, languages and playback arrangement you need. You can bring a sample schedule so the conversation covers how your team will use Yobikoe from the first preparation call to the medal ceremonies.
Yobikoe plays announcements from a browser or provides an RTSP stream for your venue AV setup. The connection to your existing hall speakers depends on how the hall receives and routes audio. Before the tournament, check the playback path with the person responsible for the sound system and test a complete competitor call through the speakers you intend to use.
Setup time depends on your data source, templates, languages and venue playback arrangement, so there is no single duration for every tournament. Prepare a sample bracket or schedule and decide which calls need operator review. Allow time before the event to check names, scan printed barcodes and test playback through the hall speakers with the people who will operate the system.
Book a live demo with a sample bracket or schedule to discuss your kata and kumite announcements. Yobikoe is made by freevision, founded in Bratislava in 2012.