VISUAL ARTICULATORY FEEDBACK

一个为练习英语发音的人提供发音视觉反馈的系统将对一些人群有用。提出的视觉关节反馈系统（VAF）将基于最近几年获得的关节x射线微束数据。VAF与当前基于自动语音识别（ASR）技术的反馈系统的不同之处在于它对这些数据的依赖。此外，与基于asr的反馈不同，VAF不需要语音分类来推断发音。这些因素将使VAF提供比当前系统更细粒度的发音反馈。VAF还允许对非标准发音进行反馈，例如那些发音困难、失聪和非母语人士。该系统将提供三个视角的反馈，以及显示牙齿和上颚的假腭图。给定一个学生的语音样本，每个视图将显示与目标相对应的发音器位置。因此，它将表明产生更好发音所需的发音变化。在第一阶段，研究将集中在困难的/ee/-/ih/元音区分上。在多主题案例研究设计中，我们将针对现有的听觉反馈系统测试原型。将比较这两种系统在训练聋人、诵读困难和非母语人士方面的效率和效果。建议的商业应用：潜在的应用包括自定进度和临床指导的发音纠正和维护培训课程。这尤其适用于聋人、非英语母语者或被诊断患有退行性（产生构音障碍）神经病理学（如帕金森病或肌萎缩性侧索硬化症）的成年人。

A system providing visual feedback of articulation for people practicing English pronunciation would be useful to several populations. The proposed visual articulatory feedback system (VAF) will be based on articulatory x-ray microbeam data obtained in the last few years. VAF differs from current feedback systems based on automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology by its reliance on these data. Further, VAF does not require phonetic categorization to infer articulation, unlike ASR-based feedback. These factors will enable VAF to provide finer- grained articulatory feedback than current systems. VAF will also allow feedback for nonstandard pronunciations, such as those of dysarthric, deaf, and non-native speakers. The system will provide feedback with three planes of view, as well as a pseudopalatogram showing the teeth and palate. Given a student's speech sample, each view will show the corresponding articulator positions compared to the target. Thus, it will indicate the articulatory changes needed to produce better pronunciation. In Phase I, the research will focus on the difficult /ee/-/ih/ vowel distinction. In a multiple-subject case-study design, we will test the prototype against an existing auditory-feedback system. The two systems will be compared for efficiency and effectiveness in training deaf, dysarthric, and non-native speakers. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Potential applications include both self-paced and clinician-directed training courses for correction and maintenance of pronunciation. This applies particularly to adult populations who are deaf, are non-native speakers of English, or are diagnosed with a degenerative (dysarthria- producing) neuropathology such as Parkinsons disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.