RI: Collaborative Research: Foreign accent conversion through articulatory inversion of the vocal-tract frontal cavity

有能力将A？外国人？口音的声音？本地人？在第二语言学习者的发音训练中，对应物可以是一个宝贵的工具。这就需要将由声道解剖结构决定的语音信号的各个方面与说话者控制它的特殊方式所产生的语音信号的各个方面分开。虽然这两个源在声学域中以复杂的方式相互作用，但一些研究表明，它们在发音空间中可能是解耦的，特别是在声道前腔中。本研究的目的是确定在何种程度上外国口音转换可以通过发音反转的额腔。为此，正在研究两个互补的问题。首先，现有的发音数据集正在被用来开发一个外国口音转换模型，该模型在额叶腔域中运行。第二，发音反转模型正在开发，以估计从语音声学的额窦配置。这些模型的结果正在通过对外国口音、说话人身份和声学质量的感知测试进行系统验证。英语是美国相当大一部分劳动力的第二语言。减少外国口音变得越来越困难以外？关键时期？但是成人第二语言学习者的发音确实有了实质性的改善。这项工作将促进新技术的发展，以促进这种改进。它的结果也可以应用于电影配音/循环，以及语音技术（例如，特征提取、数据压缩）。

The ability to transform a ?foreign? accented voice into its ?native? counterpart could be an invaluable tool in pronunciation training for second-language learners. This requires separating those aspects of the speech signal that are determined by the anatomy of the vocal tract from those that result from the idiosyncratic way in which the speaker controls it. While these two sources interact in complex ways in the acoustic domain, a few studies indicate that they may be decoupled in the articulatory space, specifically in the vocal tract frontal cavity. The objective of this research is to determine the extent to which foreign-accent conversion can be performed through articulatory inversion of the frontal cavity. For this purpose, two complementary problems are being investigated. First, existing articulatory datasets are being used to develop a foreign-accent conversion model that operates in the frontal cavity domain. Second, articulatory inversion models are being developed to estimate the frontal cavity configuration from speech acoustics. Results from these models are being systematically validated through perceptual tests of foreign-accentedness, speaker identity and acoustic quality. English is a second language for a significant percentage of the workforce in the United States. Reduction of foreign accent becomes increasingly difficult beyond the ?critical period? of language learning, but substantial improvements in pronunciation do occur for adult second-language learners. This work will stimulate the development of new technology to facilitate such improvements. Its results may also find application for film dubbing/looping, as well as in speech technology at large (e.g., feature extraction, data compression).