Subvocal recognition

Subvocal recognition (SVR) is the process of taking subvocalization and converting the detected results to a digital text-based output. It is similar to voice recognition except it is silent subvocalization being detected. It is a new technology being researched and developed at NASA's Ames Research Laboratory in Mountain View, California under the supervision of Charles Jorgensen.

A set of electrodes are attached to the skin of the throat and, without opening the mouth or uttering a sound, the words are recognized by a computer.

Subvocal speech recognition deals with electromyograms that are different for each speaker. Therefore, consistency can be thrown off just by the positioning of an electrode. To improve accuracy, researchers in this field are relying on statistical models that get better at pattern-matching the more times a subject "speaks" through the electrodes. But even then there are lapses. At Carnegie Mellon University, researchers found that the same "speaker" with accuracy rates of 94% one day can see that rate drop to 48% a day later. Between two different speakers it drops even more.

Relevant applications for his technology where audible speech is impossible: for astronauts, underwater Navy Seals, fighter pilots and emergency workers charging into loud, harsh environments. At Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachuestts, research is underway to utilize subvocal information as a control source for sophisticated computer music instruments. Fact|date=August 2008

In fiction

In "Speaker for the Dead" and subsequent novels, author Orson Scott Card described an ear implant, called a "jewel", that allows subvocal communication with computer systems. Author Robert J. Sawyer made use of subvocal recognition to allow silent commands to the cybernetic 'companion implants' used by the advanced Neanderthal characters in his "Neanderthal Parallax" trilogy of science fiction novels. In " Earth", David Brin depicts this technology and its uses as a normal gear in the near future. In "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom", Cory Doctorow has cellphone technology become silent through a cochlear implant and micing the throat to pick up subvocalization.

William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy frequently uses sub-vocalization systems in various devices.

References

cite news | first=Tom| last=Simonite| pages=1 | title=Thinking of words can guide your wheelchair | date=September 6, 2007 | publisher=NewScientist | url=http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn12602-thinking-of-words-can-guide-your-wheelchair-.html

ee also

*Speech recognition

External links

* [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames NASA Ames Center] .
* [http://www.theaudeo.com/ Ambient Corporation] .