EZ_Lemac Dushae
03-18-04, 08:42 AM
Voice recognition tech goes silent:
tinyurl.com/3gxxj
WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA (news - web sites) has developed a computer program
that comes close to reading thoughts not yet spoken, by analyzing nerve
commands to the throat.
It says the breakthrough holds promise for astronauts and the handicapped.
"A person using the subvocal system thinks of phrases and talks to himself
so quietly it cannot be heard, but the tongue and vocal cords do receive
speech signals from the brain," said developer Chuck Jorgensen, of NASA's
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.
Jorgensen's team found that sensors under the chin and one each side of the
Adam's apple pick up the brain's commands to the speech organs, allowing the
subauditory, or "silent speech" to be captured.
The team concluded that the method could be useful on space missions or
other difficult working conditions, such as air traffic control towers and
even to make current voice-recognition software more active.
"What is analyzed is silent, or subauditory, speech, such as when a person
silently reads or talks to himself," Jorgensen said.
"Biological signals arise when reading or speaking to oneself with or
without actual lip or facial movement."
On early trials, the program could recognize with 92 percent accuracy six
words and 10 numbers that the team repeated sub-vocally.
The first words were "stop," "go," "left," "right," "alpha," and "omega."
Then, the inventors gave each letter of the alphabet a set of digital
coordinates.
"We took the alphabet and put it into a matrix -- like a calendar,"
Jorgensen said.
"We numbered the columns and rows and we could identify each letter with a
pair of single-digit numbers.
"So we silently spelled out 'NASA' and then submitted it to a well-known Web
search engine. We electronically numbered the Web pages that came up as
search results. We used the numbers again to choose Web pages to examine.
This proved we could browse the Web without touching a keyboard."
The next trial will command a robot similar to the Rovers currently
exploring Mars.
"We can have the model Rover go left or right using silently 'spoken' words.
"A logical spin-off would be that handicapped persons could use this system
for a lot of things," he said, as well as persons wanting to speak by
telephone without being overheard.
To reach that goal, the team plans to build a dictionary of English words
recognizable by speech recognition software.
The equipment will need improved amplifiers to strengthen the electrical
nerve signals, which are now run through noise reduction equipment before
they can be analyzed.
"The keys to this system are the sensors, the signal processing and the
pattern recognition, and that's where the scientific meat of what we're doing resides." Jorgensen said.
Veteran Lemac Dushae
Deceiver for <Gorilla Warfare>
Fennin Ro
tinyurl.com/3gxxj
WASHINGTON (AFP) - NASA (news - web sites) has developed a computer program
that comes close to reading thoughts not yet spoken, by analyzing nerve
commands to the throat.
It says the breakthrough holds promise for astronauts and the handicapped.
"A person using the subvocal system thinks of phrases and talks to himself
so quietly it cannot be heard, but the tongue and vocal cords do receive
speech signals from the brain," said developer Chuck Jorgensen, of NASA's
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.
Jorgensen's team found that sensors under the chin and one each side of the
Adam's apple pick up the brain's commands to the speech organs, allowing the
subauditory, or "silent speech" to be captured.
The team concluded that the method could be useful on space missions or
other difficult working conditions, such as air traffic control towers and
even to make current voice-recognition software more active.
"What is analyzed is silent, or subauditory, speech, such as when a person
silently reads or talks to himself," Jorgensen said.
"Biological signals arise when reading or speaking to oneself with or
without actual lip or facial movement."
On early trials, the program could recognize with 92 percent accuracy six
words and 10 numbers that the team repeated sub-vocally.
The first words were "stop," "go," "left," "right," "alpha," and "omega."
Then, the inventors gave each letter of the alphabet a set of digital
coordinates.
"We took the alphabet and put it into a matrix -- like a calendar,"
Jorgensen said.
"We numbered the columns and rows and we could identify each letter with a
pair of single-digit numbers.
"So we silently spelled out 'NASA' and then submitted it to a well-known Web
search engine. We electronically numbered the Web pages that came up as
search results. We used the numbers again to choose Web pages to examine.
This proved we could browse the Web without touching a keyboard."
The next trial will command a robot similar to the Rovers currently
exploring Mars.
"We can have the model Rover go left or right using silently 'spoken' words.
"A logical spin-off would be that handicapped persons could use this system
for a lot of things," he said, as well as persons wanting to speak by
telephone without being overheard.
To reach that goal, the team plans to build a dictionary of English words
recognizable by speech recognition software.
The equipment will need improved amplifiers to strengthen the electrical
nerve signals, which are now run through noise reduction equipment before
they can be analyzed.
"The keys to this system are the sensors, the signal processing and the
pattern recognition, and that's where the scientific meat of what we're doing resides." Jorgensen said.
Veteran Lemac Dushae
Deceiver for <Gorilla Warfare>
Fennin Ro