Silent speech interface is a device that allows speech communication without using the sound made when people vocalize their speech sounds. As such it is a type of electronic lip reading. It works by the computer identifying the phonemes that an individual pronounces from nonauditory sources of information about their speech movements. These are then used to recreate the

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

using

speech synthesis Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal languag ...

Information sources

Silent speech interface systems have been created using ultrasound and optical camera input of tongue and lip movements. Electromagnetic devices are another technique for tracking tongue and lip movements. The detection of speech movements by

electromyography Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyog ...

of speech articulator muscles and the

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about ...

is another technique. Another source of information is the vocal tract resonance signals that get transmitted through bone conduction called non-audible murmurs. They have also been created as a brain–computer interface using brain activity in the motor cortex obtained from intracortical microelectrodes.

Uses

Such devices are created as aids to those unable to create the sound

phonation The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the defini ...

needed for audible speech such as after laryngectomies.Deng Y., Patel R., Heaton J. T., Colby G., Gilmore L. D., Cabrera J., Roy S. H., De Luca C.J., Meltzner G. S.(2009)
Disordered speech recognition using acoustic and sEMG signals
In INTERSPEECH-2009, 644-647. Another use is for communication when speech is masked by background noise or distorted by self-contained breathing apparatus. A further practical use is where a need exists for silent communication, such as when privacy is required in a public place, or hands-free data silent transmission is needed during a military or security operation.Hueber T, Benaroya E-L, Chollet G, Denby B, Dreyfus G, Stone M. (2010). Development of a silent speech interface driven by ultrasound and optical images of the tongue and lips. Speech Communication, 52 288–300. Deng Y., Colby G., Heaton J. T., and Meltzner HG. S. (2012). Signal Processing Advances for the MUTE sEMG-Based Silent Speech Recognition System. Military Communication Conference, MILCOM 2012. In 2002, the Japanese company NTT DoCoMo announced it had created a silent mobile phone using

and imaging of lip movement. "The spur to developing such a phone," the company said, "was ridding public places of noise," adding that, "the technology is also expected to help people who have permanently lost their voice." The feasibility of using silent speech interfaces for practical communication has since then been shown.

Recent Development and Research

Alter Ego ''- Arnav Kapur'' A 2019 study by MIT Researcher, Arnav Kapur, has developed a Silent Speech Interface, AlterEgo, which effectively serves as a brain-computer interface and requires only subtle stimulation of the speech muscles to operate
Kapur's Research Paper
delves into the development and accuracy of such a device. His research has sparked the community into further developing this new and emerging research SpeakUP ''- Varun Chandrashekhar''

by Varun Chandrashekhar also involves the development of a Silent Speech Interface, SpeakUp. This study was targeted at making a low-cost Silent Speech Interface using Commercially available sentences and identifying the best signal to speech algorithm to use in these types of devices

In fiction

The decoding of silent speech using a computer played an important role in

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

's story and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's associated film '' A Space Odyssey''. In this, HAL 9000, a computer controlling spaceship Discovery One, bound for Jupiter, discovers a plot to deactivate it by the mission astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole through lip reading their conversations.Clarke, Arthur C. (1972). The Lost Worlds of 2001. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. . In Orson Scott Card’s series (including '' Ender’s Game''), the artificial intelligence can be spoken to while the protagonist wears a movement sensor in his jaw, enabling him to converse with the AI without making noise. He also wears an ear implant.

References

{{reflist, 2 Applications of artificial intelligence Speech recognition Speech synthesis User interface techniques Assistive technology

Information sources

Uses

Recent Development and Research

In fiction

See also

References