2024-03-29T14:31:09Z
https://soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp/oai
oai:soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp:00012449
2022-12-14T04:30:15Z
1221:1222
Silent-speech enhancement using body-conducted vocal-tract resonance signals
Hirahara, Tatsuya
Otani, Makoto
Shimizu, Shota
Toda, Tomoki
Nakamura, Keigo
Nakajima, Yoshitaka
Shikano, Kiyohiro
Copyright© 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Non-audible murmur
Body-conducted sound
Voice conversion
Talking aids
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.
Article
SPEECH COMMUNICATION. 52(4):301-313 (2010)
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
2010-04
eng
journal article
AM
http://hdl.handle.net/10091/13657
https://soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/12449
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2009.12.001
10.1016/j.specom.2009.12.001
0167-6393
AA10630135
SPEECH COMMUNICATION
52
4
301
313
https://soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/12449/files/Silent-speech_enhancement_using_body-conducted_vocal-tract_resonance.pdf
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