A talker’s message is conveyed to the listener through the acoustic speech wave. Knowledge of the most important spectral and temporal features of speech sounds provides insight into both the production processes of speech and the processes by which the listener perceives speech. The aim of this tutorial is to gain understanding on the major acoustic cues underlying the identification of speech sounds. This is of importance for automatic speech recognition and also for assessing speech perception performance in hearing-impaired persons. After a brief overview of the major spectral and temporal cues of speech sounds and of different types of speech tests and speech materials, participants will run perception tests with (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass) filtered speech stimuli. The speech test consists of nonsense words and is, therefore, language-independent. The data will be analyzed and discussed with respect to automatic speech recognition, hearing aids and cochlear implants (an implantable aid for profoundly deaf persons that transmits speech cues via electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve).
The tutorial will be held in the Lab. Exp. ORL which is situated in the St. Raphael Hospital on the Kapucijnenvoer (ENT dep.). This is within 10 minutes walking distance of the historical center of Leuven. The tutorial will last approximately 2 hours.