Low Amplitude Speech Amplification Using Intraoral Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with speech disabilities, those in quiet environments, and those in noisy environments face challenges in effective voice communication due to low amplitude speech, which often results in inaudibility at the remote end of a voice communication medium.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing sensors installed in the mouth and external airflow sensors to capture speech data, which is then processed by a computing device to map low amplitude speech into amplified speech, transmitted to a remote communication device, ensuring the speech is audible and understandable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a person whispers or speaks very quietly in a quiet environment, then the person can communicate without making noise, but the speech becomes barely audible or inaudible at the remote end
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses sensors as intermediaries placed inside the mouth to detect speech-related measurements (tongue position, airflow, acoustic information) and a computing device as an intermediary to process these measurements and generate electronic representations of speech, thereby transmitting speech information without acoustic waves that could be inaudible or disturbing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the acoustic mechanical system (sound waves traveling through air) with an electronic system (sensors detecting physical measurements and computing devices converting them to electronic speech representations), eliminating the need for audible sound transmission while preserving speech information
2Ease of operation
If a person speaks in a noisy environment, then the person can communicate normally, but the voice becomes inaudible at the remote end due to the noisy environment
Solution Approach 1:
The sensors inside the mouth act as intermediaries that directly detect speech production mechanisms (airflow, tongue position) before the speech is affected by external noise, and the computing device processes these clean measurements to generate accurate electronic speech representations that are not contaminated by environmental noise
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the vulnerable acoustic transmission system (sound waves that can be masked by environmental noise) with an electronic measurement and processing system that captures speech at the source through sensors, converting it to electronic representations that can be transmitted reliably regardless of external noise conditions
3Measurement precision
If sensors are installed inside the mouth to measure speech, then speech can be detected at low amplitude, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the speech measurement system into separate functional components: sensors for detecting specific speech parameters (tongue position, airflow, acoustic information), a computing device for processing measurements, and a communication system for transmission. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the overall system architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs sensors with multi-functionality that can detect multiple speech-related measurements (acoustic information, tongue position, airflow) simultaneously, reducing the total number of separate sensors needed and simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining comprehensive speech detection capability
Data Source
AI summary
A method, a system, and a computer program product are provided for interpreting low amplitude speech and transmitting amplified speech to a remote communication device. At least one computing device receives sensor data from multiple sensors. The sensor data is associated with the low amplitude speech. At least one of the at least one computing device analyzes the sensor data to map the sensor data to at least one syllable resulting in a string of one or more words. An electronic representation of the string of the one or more words may be generated and transmitted to a remote communication device for producing the amplified speech from the electronic representation.