Title :
A portable digital speech-rate converter for elderly hearing-impaired listeners
Author :
Nejime, Yoshito ; Aritsuka, Toshiyuki ; Imamura, Toshiki ; Hokimoto, Takao ; Ifukube, Tohru ; Matsushima, Jun´ichi
Author_Institution :
Central Res. Lab., Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
Abstract :
A new portable device that reduces speech speed in real time has been developed to aid hearing-impaired listeners. The device employs real-time digital signal processing to expand the time scale of the speech signal without changing the pitch. Seven out of ten elderly hearing-impaired listeners have shown improvements in word discrimination tests when using this speech-rate conversion. The subjects´ temporal resolution showed a correlation with the observed improvement, with a coefficient value of 0.859. The results suggest that this device provides support at the cognitive level of the auditory system
Keywords :
handicapped aids; hearing; medical signal processing; speech processing; auditory system; coefficient value; cognitive level support; elderly hearing-impaired listeners; portable digital speech-rate converter; real-time speech speed reduction; temporal resolution; time scale expansion; word discrimination tests; Analog-digital conversion; Auditory system; Digital signal processing; Laboratories; Senior citizens; Signal processing; Signal processing algorithms; Signal resolution; Speech processing; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1994. Engineering Advances: New Opportunities for Biomedical Engineers. Proceedings of the 16th Annual International Conference of the IEEE
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2050-6
DOI :
10.1109/IEMBS.1994.412050
