Sound characteristic converter, sound-label association apparatus and method therefor

• US 5,956,685 A
• Filed: 03/11/1997
• Issued: 09/21/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Arcadia Group Limited (Taveta Limited)
• Original Assignee: ATR Human Information Processing Research Laboratories, Arcadia Group Limited (Taveta Limited)
• Inventors: Tohkura, Yoh'Ichi, Tenpaku, Seiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth, David R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chawan, Vijay B.
• Application Number:
  US08/815,306
• Time in Patent Office: 924 Days
• Field of Search: 704/278, 704/214, 704/221, 704/223, 704/265, 369/47, 360/13, 348/738
• US Class Current: 704/278
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 3/02 Rotary-transmission dynamometers
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/00 Speech or audio signals analysis-synthesis techniques for redundancy reduction, e.g. in vocoders; Coding or decoding of speech or audio signals, using source filter models or psychoacoustic analysis in musical instruments G10H
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2021/0135 Voice conversion or morphing
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/06 Transformation of speech into a non-audible representation, e.g. speech visualisation or speech processing for tactile aids G10L15/26 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/48 specially adapted for particular use

Abstract

This invention relates to converting the characteristics of sounds such asoices, musical tones, natural sounds, and so on, and more specifically to facilitating the conversion operation, and also to sound-label association suitable for the characteristic conversion. Various embodiments of the invention comprise several of the following elements to provide useful results: sound-label data holding means, display control means, conversion means, sound-label dividing means, label-data dividing means, association forming means, data inputting means, and communication means. Other embodiments of the invention may be practiced as processes or articles of manufacture.

Claims

1. A sound characteristic conversion device comprising;

sound data obtaining means for obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

sound-label data holding means for holding the sound data divided according to specified divisions and labels divided with division marks and showing the information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters, pictures, or symbols, with the labels associated with respective divisions of the sound data,

display control means for visually modifying the labels based on the label data of corresponding divisions according to modification data when the modification data are given to the label data of divisions to which conversion of sound characteristic is intended, and causing display means to display the modified labels, and

conversion means for applying characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data of the divisions according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data of the divisions.

2. The sound characteristic conversion device of claim 1, characterized in that the visual modification of said labels is modification of characters of the labels.

3. The sound characteristic conversion device of claim 1, characterized in that the visual modification to the labels is the order of the labels.

6. The storing medium for storing a program for executing the device or method according to any of the claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, by means of a computer.

4. A sound characteristic conversion device comprising;

sound data dividing means for dividing inputted sound data according to sound punctuation,

label data dividing means for dividing label data which show the contents transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters and symbols and to which division marks are attached as corresponding to the sound divisions according to the division marks,

association forming means for associating the divided sound data with the divided label data,

display control means for visually modifying the labels based on the label data according to modification data when the modification data are given to the label data, and causing display means to display the modified labels, and

conversion means for applying characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

5. The sound characteristic conversion device of claim 4, characterized in that the visual modification to the labels is the order of the labels.

7. The sound characteristic conversion device of claim 4, characterized in that the visual modification of said labels is modification of characters of the labels.

8. A sound characteristic conversion method characterized by:

obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

associating labels showing contents transmitted with the sound signal represented with the sound data as characters, pictures, or symbols in advance with the sound data, and as well as, associating the contents of sound characteristic conversion in advance with modification process,

visually modifying the labels represented with the label data according to given modification process and displaying the modified labels, and

applying characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification process given to the label data, to the sound data associated with the label data.

9. A sound characteristic conversion method characterized by:

dividing inputted sound data according to sound punctuation,

dividing label data which show the information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters and symbols and to which division marks are attached as corresponding to the sound divisions according to the division marks,

associating the divided label data with the divided sound data,

visually modifying the labels based on the label data according to modification data when the modification data are given to the label data, and causing display means to display the modified labels, and

conversion means for applying characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

10. A sound characteristic conversion device comprising;

sound data obtaining means for obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

sound-label data holding means for holding the sound data divided according to specified divisions and labels showing the information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters or symbols, with the labels associated with respective divisions of the sound data and divided with division marks, and

conversion means for applying characteristic conversion corresponding to modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

11. A sound characteristic conversion method characterized by:

obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

associating labels showing information transmitted with the sound signal represented with the sound data as characters or symbols with the sound data divided according to specified divisions and dividing the labels with division marks, and

applying characteristic conversion corresponding to modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

12. A sound data transmission system having a signal sending side device and a signal receiving side device capable of communicating through a communication passage for transmitting sound data from the signal sending side device to the signal receiving side device, characterized in that:

the signal sending side device comprises;

data inputting means for inputting label data divided into divisions with division marks and modification data associated with the divisions, and

communication means for transmitting the label data and the modification data through the communication passage to the signal receiving side device, and

the signal receiving side device comprising;

communication means for receiving the label data and the modification data from the signal sending side device,

standard sound data generation means for generating standard sound data according to the label data, and

conversion means for converting sound characteristic of the standard sound data according to the modification data and generating sound characteristic conversion data.

13. A method of transmitting sound data from a sending side to a receiving side through a communication passage, characterized by:

on the sending side;

inputting label data divided into divisions with division marks and modification data associated with the divisions,

transmitting the label data and the modification data to the receiving side through the communication passage, and

on the receiving side;

receiving the label data and the modification data from the sending side,

generating standard sound data according to the label data, and

converting the sound characteristic of the standard sound data by means of the label data division associated with the modification data according to the modification data to generate data of converted sound characteristic.

14. A sound-label associating device comprising;

sound data inputting means for inputting sound data,

sound data dividing means for dividing sound data according to the amplitude of sound pressure represented with the sound data,

label data inputting means for associating sound data with labels showing information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters or symbols and for inputting the labels as label data to which division marks are attached at positions corresponding to the divisions in the sound data,

label data dividing means for dividing the label data according to the division marks, and

association forming means for associating the divided sound data with the divided label data.

15. The sound-label associating device of claim 14, characterized by further comprising detailed association forming means for associating the sound data with respective labels and dividing the sound data and the respective labels according to average duration of labels represented with the label data and duration of sound data concerning the label data and the sound data associated with each other by means of the association forming means.

16. A sound-label associating device comprising;

sound data inputting means for inputting sound data,

label data inputting means for associating sound data with labels showing information transmitted with sound represented with sound data as characters or symbols and for inputting the labels as label data, and

detailed association forming means for associating the sound data with respective labels and dividing the sound data and the respective labels according to previously obtained average duration of the labels represented with the label data and inputted actual duration of sound data.

17. A sound-label associating device characterized in that:

the device comprises;

sound data obtaining means for obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

a sound display area for visually displaying the acoustic feature of the sound signal represented with sound data, and

a label display area for displaying labels represented with label data,

whereby the division marks representing sound divisions are displayed in the sound display area.

18. A sound-label associating method characterized by:

obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

dividing the sound data according to the amplitude of the sound pressure represented with the sound data,

receiving label data showing information transmitted with sound represented with sound data as characters or symbols with division marks attached to positions corresponding to the divisions in the sound data, and dividing the label data according to the division marks, and

associating the divided sound data and the divided label.

19. The sound-label associating method of claim 18 characterized by:

preparing average duration for respective labels in advance, and

concerning the label data and the sound data associated with each other, associating sound data with respective labels and dividing the sound data according to the average duration of respective labels represented with label data and the duration of the sound data.

20. A method of associating sound data with label data showing information transmitted with a sound signal represented with the sound data as characters or symbols characterized by:

obtaining the sound data representative of the sound signal;

preparing an average duration for each label in advance, and

associating the sound data with respective labels represented with respective labels, and dividing the sound data according to previously obtained average duration of respective labels and actual duration of the sound data.

21. A displaying method for sound-label association, characterized by:

obtaining sound data representative of a sound signal;

providing a sound displaying area for visually displaying the acoustic feature of the sound signal represented with the sound data, and a label displaying area for displaying labels represented with label data, and

displaying the division marks indicating sound divisions in the sound displaying area.

22. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to hold the sound data divided according to specified divisions and labels divided with division marks and showing information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters, pictures, or symbols, with the labels associated with respective divisions of the sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to visually modify the labels based on the label data of corresponding divisions according to modification data when the modification data are given to the label data of divisions to which conversion of sound characteristic is intended and to display the modified labels; and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data of the divisions according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data of the divisions.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22 characterized in that the visual modification of said labels is modification of characters of the labels.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 22 characterized in that the visual modification to the labels is the order of the labels.

25. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide inputted sound data according to sound punctuation;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide label data which show the contents transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters and symbols and to which division marks are attached as corresponding to the sound divisions according to division marks;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the divided sound data with the divided label data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to visually modify the labels based on the label data according to modification data when the modification data are given to the label data and configured to cause display means to display the modified labels;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25 characterized in that the visual modification of said labels is modification of characters of the labels.

27. An article of manufacture of claim 25 characterized in that the visual modification to the labels is the order of the labels.

28. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate labels showing contents transmitted with the sound signal represented with the sound data as characters, pictures, or symbols in advance with the sound data, and as well as, associating the contents of sound characteristic conversion in advance with modification process;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to visually modify the labels represented with the label data according to given modification process and displaying the modified labels, and;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification process given to the label data, to the sound data associated with the label data.

29. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide inputted sound data according to sound punctuation;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide label data which show the information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters and symbols and to which division marks are attached as corresponding to the sound divisions according to the division marks;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the divided label data with the divided sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to visually modify the labels based on the label data according to the modification data when the modification data are given to the label data and configured to cause display means to display the modified labels, and;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to the modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

30. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to hold the sound data divided according to specified divisions and labels showing the information transmitted with the sound represented with the sound data as characters or symbols, with the labels associated with respective divisions of the sound data and divided with division marks, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

31. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound characteristic conversion, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate labels showing information transmitted with the sound signal represented with the sound data as characters or symbols with the sound data divided according to specified divisions and dividing the labels with division marks, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to apply characteristic conversion corresponding to modification data to the sound data associated with the label data according to the modification data given as corresponding to the label data.

32. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound data transmission, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to send label data and modification data through a communication passage for transmitting sound data, said computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to input label data divided into divisions with division marks and modification data associated with the divisions, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to transmit the label data and the modification data through the communication passage; and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to receive the label data and the modification data through said communication passage, said computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate standard sound data according to the label data, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to convert sound characteristic of the standard sound data according to the modification data and generating sound characteristic conversion data.

33. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound data transmission through a communication passage, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to input label data divided into divisions with division marks and modification data associated with the divisions;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to transmit the label data and the modification data through the communication passage;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to receive the label data and the modification data through the communication passage;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to generate standard sound data according to the label data, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to converting the sound characteristic of the standard sound data by means of the label data division associated with the modification data according to the modification data to generate data of converted sound characteristic.

34. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to input sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide the sound data according to the amplitude of sound pressure represented with the sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate sound data with labels transmitted with the sound data, said labels showing information represented as characters or symbols, and to input the labels as label data to which division marks are attached at positions corresponding to the divisions in the sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide the label data according to the division marks, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the divided sound data with the divided label data.

35. The article of manufacture of claim 34, wherein the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture further comprises:

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the sound data with respective labels and to divide the sound data and the respective labels according to average duration of labels represented with the label data and duration of sound data concerning the label data and the sound data associated with each other by means of the association forming means.

36. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to input sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate sound data with labels showing information transmitted with sound represented with sound data as characters or symbols and to input the labels as label data; and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the sound data with respective labels and dividing the sound data and the respective labels according to previously obtained average duration of the labels represented with the label data and inputted actual duration of sound data.

37. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to visually display the acoustic feature of the sound signal represented with sound data; and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to display labels represented with label data,

whereby the division marks representing sound divisions are displayed in the sound display area.

38. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to divide the sound data according to the amplitude of the sound pressure represented with the sound data;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to receive label data transmitted with sound data, said label data showing information represented as characters or symbols with division marks attached to positions corresponding to the divisions in the sound data, and to divide the label data according to the division marks, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the divided sound data and the divided label.

39. The article of manufacture of claim 38, wherein the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture further comprises:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to prepare average duration for respective labels in advance, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate sound data with respective labels and to divide the sound data according to the average duration of respective labels represented with label data and the duration of the sound data.

40. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause association of sound data with label data showing information transmitted with a sound signal represented with the sound data as characters or symbols, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain the sound data representative of the sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to prepare an average duration for each label in advance, and;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to associate the sound data with respective labels represented with respective labels and to divide the sound data according to previously obtained average duration of respective labels and actual duration of the sound data.

41. An article of manufacture comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to cause displaying for sound-label association, the computer readable program code in said article of manufacture comprising;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to obtain sound data representative of a sound signal;

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to provide a sound displaying area for visually displaying the acoustic feature of the sound signal represented with the sound data and a label displaying area for displaying labels represented with label data, and

computer readable program code configured to cause a computer to display the division marks indicating sound divisions in the sound displaying area.