Voice-Controlled Audio Attenuation for Accurate Speech Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic speech recognition (ASR) in voice-controlled devices is hindered by background noise, making it difficult to accurately identify voice commands within audio signals.
Innovation Solution
The device alters its audio output by attenuating, pausing, or switching to mono when a predefined phrase is detected, increasing the signal-to-noise ratio and improving speech recognition accuracy by reducing noise interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If audio output is maintained at normal levels, then entertainment functionality is preserved, but speech recognition accuracy deteriorates due to background noise interference
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of wake words or trigger phrases in the audio stream before initiating audio attenuation. This allows the device to prepare for speech recognition by first identifying that the user intends to speak a command, then proactively reducing background audio output to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for the upcoming speech input.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio output level is dynamically adjusted based on the detected state. The system transitions between different audio output states (normal playback, attenuated playback, paused playback) depending on whether a wake word is detected and whether speech recognition is in progress. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by making audio levels adaptive rather than static.
2Measurement precision
If audio output is attenuated or paused to reduce noise, then speech recognition accuracy improves, but user entertainment experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by detecting the user's intent to speak (through wake word recognition) before the speech command is fully articulated. This allows the system to preemptively reduce audio output that would interfere with the upcoming speech, rather than waiting for the speech to begin and then reacting. The anti-action is preliminary because it occurs before the main speech event.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from wake word detection to control audio output levels. When the feedback mechanism detects a wake word, it triggers a state change that attenuates or pauses audio playback. After speech recognition completes successfully, the feedback loop triggers restoration of normal audio levels. This closed-loop feedback system balances speech recognition needs with entertainment continuity.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for altering audio being output by a voice-controlled device, or another device, to enable more accurate automatic speech recognition (ASR) by the voice-controlled device. For instance, a voice-controlled device may output audio within an environment using a speaker of the device. While outputting the audio, a microphone of the device may capture sound within the environment and may generate an audio signal based on the captured sound. The device may then analyze the audio signal to identify speech of a user within the signal, with the speech indicating that the user is going to provide a subsequent command to the device. Thereafter, the device may alter the output of the audio (e.g., attenuate the audio, pause the audio, switch from stereo to mono, etc.) to facilitate speech recognition of the user's subsequent command.