Patent · US Expired

Targeted vocal transformation

US6336092B1 · kind B1 · utility

136Cited by
43References
39Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 28, 1997
Grant dateJan 1, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 28, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG10L2021/0135
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention is a method for transforming a source individual's voice so as to adopt the characteristics of a target individual's voice. The excitation signal component of the target individual's voice is extracted and the spectral envelope of the source individual's voice is extracted. The transformed voice is synthesized by applying the spectral envelope of the source individual to the excitation signal component of the voice of the target individual. A higher quality transformation is achieved using an enhanced excitation signal created by replacing unvoiced regions of the signal with interpolated data from adjacent voiced regions. Various methods of transforming the spectral characteristics of the source individual's voice are also disclosed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.