Touch Screen Speech Detection via Pressure Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile communication devices face challenges in accurately detecting speech activities, especially in noisy environments, due to the inability to distinguish between speech and ambient noise, which affects communication quality and resource management.
Innovation Solution
A mobile communication system equipped with a touch screen and a speech activity analyzer that processes pressure data from the touch screen to determine speech activity, using a cluster processor, feature extractor, and decision maker to identify and analyze parameters such as center of gravity, perimeter, and orientation of clusters formed by the user's cheek contact, enabling reliable speech detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional microphone-based speech detection is used, then the device can detect speech in quiet environments, but it fails to distinguish speech from ambient noise in noisy environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a touch screen as an intermediary sensing mechanism between the user and the device. Instead of relying solely on acoustic sensors that directly pick up noise, the touch screen detects physical contact patterns (pressure, location, duration) that indirectly indicate speech activity, thereby filtering out ambient noise interference
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the acoustic detection mechanism (microphone) with a mechanical/tactile detection mechanism (touch screen pressure sensing). This substitution allows the system to detect speech through physical contact characteristics rather than acoustic waves, eliminating the problem of acoustic noise interference
2Reliability
If the device continuously monitors speech activity using traditional methods, then speech detection coverage is maximized, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic sampling of touch screen data rather than continuous monitoring. The system analyzes touch patterns at discrete time intervals, detecting speech activity only when necessary (when touch patterns match speech characteristics), thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining detection reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The touch screen serves dual purposes: it is both the user interface for interaction and the sensing mechanism for speech detection. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate dedicated speech detection sensors, reducing overall device energy consumption while maintaining speech activity monitoring capability
3Adaptability or versatility
If the touch screen is used for both user interaction and speech detection, then device functionality is enhanced, but the complexity of data processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the touch screen data into distinct features (pressure magnitude, contact location, duration, movement trajectory) and processes each feature independently through dedicated analysis modules. This segmentation simplifies the overall processing complexity by breaking down the complex task of speech detection into manageable sub-tasks based on individual touch characteristics
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile communication system comprises a mobile communication device provided with a touch screen; and a speech activity analyzer suitable to receive from said touch screen data indicative of pressure applied to an area of said touch screen, and of changes thereto with time.