ISCA Archive Odyssey 2014
ISCA Archive Odyssey 2014

Speaking in adverse conditions: from behavioural observations to intelligibility-enhancing speech modifications

Martin Cooke

Speech output technology is finding widespread application, including in scenarios where intelligibility might be compromised -- at least for some listeners -- by adverse conditions. Unlike most current algorithms, talkers continually adapt their speech patterns as a response to the immediate context of spoken communication, where the type of interlocutor and the environment are the dominant situational factors influencing speech production. Observations of speaker behaviour can motivate the design of more robust speech output algorithms. Starting with a listener-oriented categorisation of possible goals for speech modification, this talk will describe some of the extensive set of behavioural findings related to human speech modification, identify those factors which appear to be beneficial, and go on to examine recent computational attempts to apply speaker-inspired modifications to improve intelligibility in the face of both stationary and non-stationary maskers.