Remote Cognitive State Assessment Using Voice Analysis

The goal of this project is to characterize changes in human voice characteristics as the speaker becomes fatigued and to use this information to design an effective, remotely monitored, fatigue assessment system. The need for remote, near-real-timeassessment of personnel during ongoing operation is critical, given the long and irregular duty hours required of military personnel combined with the concurrent need for effective performance. Such a system would be a key tool for the assurance of safe,effective utilization of friendly forces, as well as to assess the degree of effectiveness of a monitored enemy. There are no such capabilities available today. In Phase I we developed and tested techniques to analyze the frequency components of soundsspoken by individuals as they progress from rested to fatigued states. In Phase II we will: automate the acquisition and analysis process, perform a more continuous analysis of voice as individuals fatigue, use this information to design optimum algorithmparameters, and verify the performance of the fatigue assessment system in identifying subjects whose levels of performance have been compromised by fatigue.