Intonation transformation for speech therapy and the like
US7373294B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 2003 |
| Grant date | May 13, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 7, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG10L2021/0135
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The intonation of speech is modified by an appropriate combination of resampling and time-domain harmonic scaling. Resampling increases (upsampling) or decreases (downsampling) the number of data points in a signal. Harmonic scaling adds or removes pitch cycles to or from a signal. The pitch of a speech signal can be increased by combining downsampling with harmonic scaling that adds an appropriate number of pitch cycles. Alternatively, pitch can be decreased by combining upsampling with harmonic scaling that removes an appropriate number of pitch cycles. The present invention can be implemented in an automated speech-therapy tool that is able to modify the intonation of prerecorded reference speech signals for playback to a user to emphasize the correct pronunciation by increasing the pitch of selected portions of words or phrases that the user had previously mispronounced.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.