Computerized system for teaching speech
First Claim
1. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
- an audio specimen generator for playing a pre-recorded reference audio specimen to a user for attempted repetition thereby;
a reference audio specimen library in which reference audio specimens are stored and to which the audio specimen generator has access, wherein said audio specimen library comprises a multiplicity of recordings of speaker dependent audio specimens produced by a plurality of speech models;
a speaker independent parameter database storing a plurality of speaker independent references which are different from the reference audio specimens stored in said reference audio specimen library; and
an audio specimen scorer for scoring a user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen by comparison of at least one parameter of the user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen with a speaker independent reference, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for interactive speech training having an audio specimen generator for playing a pre-recorded reference audio specimen to a user for attempted repetition by the user and a reference audio specimen library in which reference audio specimens are stored and to which the audio specimen generator has access. The audio specimen library contains a multiplicity of recordings of speaker dependent audio specimens produced by a plurality of speech models. A speaker independent parameter database stores a plurality of speaker independent references which are different from the reference audio specimens stored in the reference audio specimen library. The speaker independent references are classified according to at least one of age, gender or dialect, but is independent of other speaker characteristics within each category. An audio specimen scorer scores a user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen by comparison of at least one parameter of the user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen with a speaker independent reference.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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an audio specimen generator for playing a pre-recorded reference audio specimen to a user for attempted repetition thereby; a reference audio specimen library in which reference audio specimens are stored and to which the audio specimen generator has access, wherein said audio specimen library comprises a multiplicity of recordings of speaker dependent audio specimens produced by a plurality of speech models; a speaker independent parameter database storing a plurality of speaker independent references which are different from the reference audio specimens stored in said reference audio specimen library; and an audio specimen scorer for scoring a user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen by comparison of at least one parameter of the user'"'"'s repetition audio specimen with a speaker independent reference, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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a reference audio specimen database in which non-speaker independent reference audio specimens are stored; a speaker independent parameter database in which speaker independent references are stored; a prompt sequencer operative to generate a sequence of prompts including said reference audio specimens to a user, prompting the user to produce a corresponding sequence of audio specimens, wherein said sequence of prompts branches in response to user performance; and a reference-to-response comparing unit for comparing at least one feature of each of the sequence of audio specimens generated by the user, to a speaker independent reference from said speaker independent parameter database, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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a reference audio specimen database in which non-speaker independent reference audio Specimens are stored; a speaker independent parameter database in which speaker independent references are stored; a prompt sequencer operative to generate a sequence of prompts, including said non-speaker independent references, to a user, prompting the user to produce a corresponding sequence of audio specimens, wherein the sequence of prompts is at least partly determined by a user'"'"'s designation of his native language; and a speaker independent reference-to-response comparing unit for comparing at least one feature of each of the sequence of audio specimens generated by the user, to a speaker independent reference from said speaker independent parameter database, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories.
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18. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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a reference audio specimen database in which non-speaker independent reference audio specimens are stored; a speaker independent parameter database in which speaker independent references are stored; apparatus for receiving and storing audio specimens generated by a user in response to reference audio specimens from said reference audio specimen database; and a speaker independent reference-to-response comparing unit for comparing at least one feature of the audio specimen generated by the user, to a speaker independent reference from said speaker independent parameter database, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories, the comparing unit comprising; an audio specimen segmenter for segmenting a user-generated audio specimen into a plurality of segments; and a segment comparing unit for comparing at least one feature of at least one of the plurality of segments to a speaker independent reference from said speaker independent parameter database. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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a reference audio specimen database in which non-speaker independent reference audio specimens are stored; a speaker independent parameter database in which speaker independent references are stored; an audio specimen recorder for recording audio specimens generated by a user in response to reference audio specimens from said reference audio specimen database; and a speaker-independent audio specimen scorer for scoring a user-generated audio specimen based on at least one speaker-independent reference parameter from said speaker independent parameter database, said speaker independent reference parameter being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. Apparatus for interactive speech training comprising:
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a reference audio specimen database in which non-speaker independent reference audio specimens are stored; a speaker independent parameter database in which speaker independent references are stored; apparatus for receiving and storing audio specimens generated by a user in response to reference audio specimens from said reference audio specimen database; and a speaker independent reference-to-response comparing unit for comparing at least one feature of the audio specimens generated by the user, to a speaker independent reference from said speaker independent parameter database, said speaker independent reference being characterized in that it is classified in a category according to at least one of age, gender and dialect categories.
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Specification