SILENT SOUND TECHNOLOGY

BY

K PURNIMA
BTECH IV year ECE

BRIEF OVERVIEW :
Introduction Need for silent sound Origination How we speak ?

Technologies used
Speech Synthesis Block Diagram

Advantages, Disadvantages and Applications

Research Future Scope

Conclusion
References

INTRODUCTION :
The word Cell Phone has become greatest buzz word in Cellular Communication industry.

There are lots and lots of technology that tries to reduce the Noise pollution and make the environment a better place to live in.

A new technology known as Silent Sound Technology is emerged that will put an end to Noise pollution. It is a technology that helps you to transmit information with - out using your vocal cords .

NEED FOR SILENT SOUND :

It will put an end to embarrassed situation such as : An person answering his silent, but vibrating cell phone in a meeting, lecture , and whispering loudly. In the case of an urgent call, apologetically rushing out of the room in order to answer or call the person back.

ORIGINATION :
The idea of interpreting silent speech electronically or with a computer has been around for a long time, and was popularized in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick sciencefiction film 2001 A Space Odyssey

A major focal point was the DARPA Advanced Speech Encoding Program (ASE ) of the early 2000s
The device is developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT),Germany

What it is..?
This technology aims to notice lip movements & transform them into a computer generated sound that can be transmitted over a phone. Hence person on other end of phone receives the information in audio. This device allows speech communication without using the sound made when people vocalize their speech sounds. It is a type of electronic lip reader.

HOW WE SPEAK.?
When we generally speak aloud, air passes through larynx & the tongue. Words are produced using articulator muscle in the mouth & jaw region.

 It has been proved that the articulator muscle become active irrespective of whether air passes through them or not. Even by saying words without producing sound, weak electric currents are sent from your brain to the speech muscle. These electrical Electromyograms. signals are known as

Methods of producing

ELECTROMYOGRAPH Y

IMAGE PROCESSING

ELECTROMYOGRAPHY :
It is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph, to record called an electromyogram. It detects the electrical potential generated by muscle cells when these cells are electrically or neurologically activated.

EMG Procedure :
A Needle electrode or a needle containing two fine - wire electrodes is inserted through the skin into the muscle tissue. The insertional activity provides valuable information about the state of the muscle and its innervating nerve. Normal muscles at rest make certain, normal electrical signals when the needle is inserted into them. Abnormal spontaneous activity might indicate some nerve and/or muscle damage.

 Patient is asked to contract the muscle smoothly and the shape, size, and frequency of the resulting motor unit potentials are judged.

The electrode is retracted a few millimeters, and again the activity is analyzed until at least 1020 units have been collected.
Electromyographic sensors attached to the face records the electric signals produced by the facial muscles, compare them with pre recorded signal pattern of spoken words . When there is a match that sound is transmitted on to the other end of the line and person at the other end listen to the spoken words.

IMAGE PROCESSING :
It converts the digital data into a film image with minimal corrections and calibrations. Image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image. The most common type of image processing is photography. In this process, an image is captured using a camera.

SPEECH SYNTHESIS :
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer The most important qualities of speech synthesis system are naturalness and intelligibility The primary Synthesizing technologies are :

Concatenative synthesis
Formant synthesis

BLOCK DIAGRAM :

Silent Vocoder

ADVANTAGES :
As we know in space there is no medium for sound to travel therefore this technology can be best utilized by astronauts. We can make silent calls even if you are standing in a crowded place. This technology helpful for people without vocal cord or those who are suffering from Aphasia (speaking disorder). This technology can be used for communication in nasty environment.

To tell a secret pin number or credit card number.

RESTRICTIONS :
Translation into languages such as Chinese different tone holds different meaning, facial movements being the same. Hence this technology is difficult to apply in such situations.

Even differentiating emotions cannot be done.

This device presently needs nine leads to be attached to our face which is quite impractical to make it usable.

APPLICATIONS :
Helping people who have lost their voice due to illness or accident. Telling a trusted friend your PIN number over the phone without anyone eavesdropping assuming no lip-readers are around.

Silent Sound Techniques is applied in Military for communicating secret/confidential matters to others.

RESEARCH :
According to research, the 'lost calls' are worth $20 billion per year worldwide. For the cellular operator, these are potential earnings that are currently being left on the table. When these 'lost calls' become answerable, and can be conducted without making a sound, there is a tremendous potential for increased profits.

FUTURE SCOPE :
Without having electrodes hanging all around your face, these electrodes will be incorporated into cellphones .

It may have features like lip reading based on image recognition & processing rather than electromyography.

Nano technology will be a mentionable step towards making the device handy.

CONCLUSION :
Engineers claim that the device is working

with 99 percent efficiency.

It can be considered as a recent trend in the

field of information technology that implements Talking Without Talking.

It is a boon to the society, if implemented.

REFERENCES :
http://www.seminarsonly.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=5907 http://simplicity4all.hubpages.com/hub/What-is-Silent-Sound http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_speech_interface

www.telecomspace.com
http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/silent-sound-technology

THANK YOU !!