Expressive Speech Synthesis for Speech-Generating Devices

 描述(申请人提供)：通过语言表达情感的能力是人类交流的基本要素，但依赖语音生成设备进行交流的言语障碍患者往往被剥夺了这一能力。当前的语音生成设备最多只能提供有限数量的表现力语音模式(例如，“快乐”语音或“悲伤”语音)，并且即使提供了这些模式，听者通常也不能以预期的方式感知它们。拟议的项目旨在通过增强基于规则的Synfonica文本到语音转换系统，使其能够准确地传达广泛的情绪状态，从而纠正这一不幸的情况。要测试的方法集中在一组富有表现力的语音元参数上，这些参数集中描述了传达给定话语的预期情感所需的语音输出的“较高级别”特征。这种元参数的例子包括语速、音调范围和呼吸度。文本到语音的规则将实现从元参数值到合成器用来产生最终语音波形的相关“低级”声学参数值的复杂映射。这些声学参数的例子包括发声的基频、共振峰频率和发声幅度。第一阶段项目旨在通过增强Synfonica系统来测试这种方法的可行性，以在一组受限的发声类型上传达四种情绪-兴高采烈、悲伤和两种愤怒(“热”愤怒和“冷”愤怒)。将进行一系列知觉测试，以确定听者在多大程度上识别合成语音中的预期情绪。如果成功，第一阶段项目将为语音生成设备的用户提供通过语音有效传达他们的情绪状态的手段奠定基础。它还将进一步加深关于听者在评估说话人的情绪状态时使用的感知线索的科学知识。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The ability to express emotion through speech is an essential element of human communication, yet individuals with speech impairments who rely on speech-generating devices to communicate are often deprived of this ability. Current speech-generating devices offer at most a limited number of expressive speech modes (e.g., a "happy" voice or a "sad" voice), and even when those are provided, they are often not perceived by listeners in the intended way. The proposed project aims to remedy this unfortunate situation by enhancing the rule-based Synfonica text-to-speech system with the ability to accurately convey a broad range of emotional states. The approach to be tested centers on a set of expressive speech meta-parameters that collectively describe the "higher-level" characteristics of the speech output required for conveying the intended emotion for a given utterance. Examples of such meta-parameters include speaking rate, pitch range, and degree of breathiness. The text-to-speech rules will implement the complex mapping from meta-parameter values to the relevant "lower-level" acoustic parameter values used by a synthesizer to produce the final speech waveform. Examples of such acoustic parameters are the fundamental frequency of voicing, formant frequencies, and voicing amplitude. The Phase I project aims to test the feasibility of this approach by enhancing the Synfonica system to convey four emotions-elation, sadness, and two flavors of anger ("hot" anger and "cold" anger)-on a restricted set of utterance types. A set of perceptual tests will be conducted to determine the extent to which listeners recognize the intended emotions in the synthesized speech. If successful, the Phase I project will lay the groundwork for providing users of speech-generating devices with the means to effectively convey their emotional states through speech. It also will further scientific knowledge regarding the perceptual cues used by listeners in gauging a speaker's emotional state.