Digital Audio Signal Slowing via Text Pattern Elimination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for slowing down speech to facilitate communication between individuals with differing language fluencies disrupt interactivity by lengthening conversations and are not transparent to the speaker, making them impractical for real-time communication.
Innovation Solution
A method that converts digital audio signals into text, identifies and eliminates non-essential patterns like pauses, hesitations, and repetitions, and adjusts the speech rate only for the listener, maintaining real-time interactivity by using a pattern database and timestamp bookmarks to slow down the audio signal without affecting the speaker's pace.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the speech rate is slowed down to facilitate understanding for non-fluent listeners, then comprehension is improved, but the conversation duration increases and interactivity is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes non-essential elements from speech (filler words, repetitions, hesitations, umms, ahs) to create a condensed version that maintains meaning while reducing duration. This allows slowing down essential content without proportionally increasing overall conversation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the speech rate parameter based on identified patterns, applying different slowing factors to different segments of speech. Essential content is slowed down for comprehension, while removed content prevents proportional time increase.
2Measurement precision
If the speech rate is slowed down to improve understanding, then listening comprehension is enhanced, but the speaker's natural pace is disrupted and transparency is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The speech signal is segmented into essential and non-essential components. The processing is applied selectively to non-essential elements (removing them) while preserving essential content, maintaining speaker transparency for the listener without requiring speaker awareness or adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system acts as an intermediary between speaker and listener, processing the speech signal to remove patterns that hinder comprehension without requiring the speaker to know or adjust their speech. The listener receives optimized speech while the speaker remains unaware, maintaining natural interaction.
3Productivity
If filler words and repetitions are removed to free up time for slowing down speech, then interactivity is maintained, but the natural flow and personality of the speaker is altered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts potentially harmful elements (filler words, repetitions, hesitations) that normally hinder comprehension into beneficial time savings. These removed elements free up time that is used to slow down essential speech content, transforming communication obstacles into advantages while maintaining speaker character through selective preservation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for slowing a digital audio signal from the transmitter in order to transmit a slowed-down digital audio signal to a receiver, comprises the conversion of the digital audio signal received from a transmitter into a text made up of a series of words, assigning a timestamp bookmark to each word of the text, identifying words that belong to patterns referenced in a database of patterns to be eliminated, the definition of a rate of slowing, the adaptation of timestamped bookmarks to a slowed-down time frame based on the time of slowing, the slowing of the digital audio signal, the deletion of patterns to be eliminated, and the transmission to the receiver of a slowed-down digital audio signal.