NOISE ADAPTIVE TECHNIQUES FOR TACTICAL SPEECH RECOGNIZERS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE TACTICAL SPEECH RECOGNIZER BY MODIFYING AND EXTENDING EMERSON & STERN'S CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPEAKER-INDEPENDENT (I.E. NO TRAINING), CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION, INCLUDING ITS EXISTING STRESS RESISTANCE, NOISE-TRACKING AND NOISE-RESISTANCE ALGORITHMS. EMERSON & STERN RECENTLY INTRODUCED SOLILOQUY(TM) VOICE INTERFACE SOFTWARE, WHICH OFFERS SPEAKER-INDEPENDENT, SMALL VOCABULARY, CONTINUOUS SPEECH RECOGNITION ON A MACINTOSH IICI FOR MODERATELY NOISY ENVIRONMENTS, SUCH AS A TRADE SHOW FLOOR. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND METHODS OF THIS RESEARCH INCLUDE (1) ESTABLISHING A PERFORMANCE BASELINE FOR CURRENT NOISE RESISTANCE AGAINST TYPICAL NOISE CONDITIONS FROM JEEPS, PLANES, TANKS, AND HELICOPTERS; (2) IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING ENHANCEMENTS THAT WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PUSH-TO-TALK SCENARIOS IN WHICH NOISE LEVELS COULD BE CONTINUOUSLY MONITORED PRIOR TO INITIATION OF RECOGNITION; (3) IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING TRADITIONAL NOISE CANCELING TECHNIQUES; (4) IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING THE EXTREMA THEORY OF VOICE COMPRESSIONS; AND (5) MODELING ENVIRONMENTALLY SPECIFIC BURST NOISE EVENTS SO THEY CAN BE IGNORED AND TESTING THE RESULTS. IF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS SUCCESSFUL, IT WILL BE POSSIBLE IN PHASE II TO REFINE AND EXTEND THESE ALGORITHMS TO COVER OTHER CONDITIONS, TEST THEM IN A REALISTIC ENVIRONMENT, AND DEVELOP AN APPROPRIATE HARDWARE/SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION FOR INTEGRATION INTO EQUIPMENT. THE ADDITION OF NOISE ROBUSTNESS AND STRESS-RESISTANCE TO SOLILOQUY TECHNOLOGY WILL SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE ITS APPLICABILITY IN TACTICAL & COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENTS WHERE SIMILAR ACOUSTIC CONDITIONS OCCUR. EXAMPLES INCLUDE BOTH COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY COCKPITS, FLIGHT LINE MAINTENANCE, INTRAVEHICLE COMMUNICATION--WHETHER MILITARY JEEPS AND TANKS OR COMMERCIAL TRUCKS WITH GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS, OR EVEN MAIL ROOMS AND FACTORIES. THIS SOLUTION COULD ALSO BE EXTENDED TO RADIO-BASED COMMUNICATIONS, WHETHER ON THE BATTLEFIELD OR ON A LOADING DOCK.