2010年4月
Silent-speech enhancement using body-conducted vocal-tract resonance signals
SPEECH COMMUNICATION
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- 巻
- 52
- 号
- 4
- 開始ページ
- 301
- 終了ページ
- 313
- 記述言語
- 英語
- 掲載種別
- 研究論文(学術雑誌)
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.specom.2009.12.001
- 出版者・発行元
- ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
The physical characteristics of weak body-conducted vocal-tract resonance signals called non-audible murmur (NAM) and the acoustic characteristics of three sensors developed for detecting these signals have been investigated. NAM signals attenuate 50 dB at 1 kHz; this attenuation consists of 30-dB full-range attenuation due to air-to-body transmission loss and 10 dB/octave spectral decay due to a sound propagation loss within the body. These characteristics agree with the spectral characteristics of measured NAM signals. The sensors have a sensitivity of between 41 and 58 dB [V/Pa] at I kHz, and the mean signal-to-noise ratio of the detected signals was 15 dB. On the basis of these investigations, three types of silent-speech enhancement systems were developed: (1) simple, direct amplification of weak vocal-tract resonance signals using a wired urethane-elastomer NAM microphone, (2) simple, direct amplification using a wireless urethane-elastomer-duplex NAM microphone, and (3) transformation of the weak vocal-tract resonance signals sensed by a soft-silicone NAM microphone into whispered speech using statistical conversion. Field testing of the systems showed that they enable voice impaired people to communicate verbally using body-conducted vocal-tract resonance signals. Listening tests demonstrated that weak body-conducted vocal-tract resonance sounds can be transformed into intelligible whispered speech sounds. Using these systems, people with voice impairments can re-acquire speech communication with less effort. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- リンク情報
- ID情報
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- DOI : 10.1016/j.specom.2009.12.001
- ISSN : 0167-6393
- eISSN : 1872-7182
- Web of Science ID : WOS:000276026400004