Data processing: speech signal processing – linguistics – language – Speech signal processing – For storage or transmission
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-11
2001-05-01
Dorvil, Richemond (Department: 2741)
Data processing: speech signal processing, linguistics, language
Speech signal processing
For storage or transmission
C704S210000, C704S271000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226605
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for aiding a hearing function difficulty due to an aging effect and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a digital acoustic signal processing apparatus for improving voice articulation.
Conventionally, it has mainly used an analog type hearing aid to process an amplitude and a frequency characteristic of a voice with employment of an analog circuit to aid difficulty in hearing. On the other hand, very recently, in the held of the hearing aids for aiding declined hearing ability, it has been developed digital hearing aids with application of digital signal processing to aid difficulty in hearing. With respect to this research and development trends, one of examples is disclosed in “The Topics of Hearing Aid” of A Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan, volume 45, No. 7, 1989, pages 549 to 555. The acoustic signal processing method employed in the digital hearing aid is described in “Digital Hearing Aid Emphasizing Speech Characteristics” of A Journal of the Acoustical Society of Japan, volume 43, No. 5, 1987, pages 356 to 361. The method for aiding hearing ability by way of a hearing aid into which an audio output from a television receiver or the like is inputted, has been described in JP-A-1-179599.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The acoustic signal process in the digital hearing aid is performed by the digital signal process with employment of the digital signal processor (will be referred to a “DSP”), and a content of this digital signal process is described by the program. As a consequence, in the digital hearing aid, the contents of the acoustic signal process can be varied by changing the program stored in the memory, as compared with the conventional analog hearing aid, so that the fitting operation to optimize voice articulation with regard to an individual patient can be easily performed. As the acoustic signal process operation used in this digital hearing aid, there are process operations for aiding difficulty in hearing in frequency resolution, time resolution, spectral feature extraction ability, and sound image reconstruction ability and the like. For instance, there are a frequency feature enhancement with employment of a digital filter, and also a silent period inserted between a consonant and a vowel. Although such a digital acoustic signal processing technique used to aid hearing ability has been developed with an aim to be reflected in a hearing aid, it is also possible to provide an appliance, or device easy to be handled by hearing difficulty people by utilizing a similar technique into “a device with sound output” such as a television receiver and a telephone.
In an acoustic signal processing apparatus used in a hearing aid, a real time process is required. That is to say, all of signal process operations must be completed within such a shorter time delay which cannot be felt by a user. Since such a real time process is necessarily required even in the conventional analog type hearing aids and also in the conventional digital type hearing aids, no consideration is made in that after the acoustic signal process to improve the voice articulation has been performed, the processed voice is outputted at the low speed.
When the hearing aid aims to sensorneural hearing difficulty people who may be aged persons, to improve voice articulation by enhancing the voice, a sufficient effect cannot be expected by merely enhancing the frequency characteristics of the voice, but the time characteristic of the voice must be emphasized at the same time when the frequency characteristic thereof is enhanced, in order that a “slow and clear” voice is produced. Also, there are many possibilities that hearing difficulty people may understand a content of a speech made by a speaker by repeatedly hearing this story from the speaker. The hearing difficulty people feel difficulties in any cases other than a man-to-man conversation, because they cannot repeatedly listen to the speech. No care is taken in such a solution to aid the repeated hearing action in the acoustic signal processing apparatus employed in the conventional digital hearing aids.
Moreover, substantially no consideration is made of the solution to slowly output a voice because of its real time characteristic in the conventional appliances, for example, a television receiver and a telephone set. Accordingly, a part of hearing difficulty persons feels difficulties when the “appliance with sound output” such as the television receiver and telephone set is used. In accordance with the conventional method for aiding hearing ability by way of the hearing aids into which the audio output from the television receiver or the like is inputted, there is no idea to utilize the acoustic signal process employed in the hearing aid within the “appliance with sound output” such as a television receiver and the telephone set.
An object of the present invention is to provide a digital acoustic signal processing apparatus used in a digital hearing aid and an “appliance with sound output” such as a television receiver and a telephone set in order to aid hearing ability difficulty due to an aging phenomenon.
This object may be achieved by providing a digital acoustic signal processing apparatus within a hearing aid and an appliance with sound output. The digital acoustic signal processing apparatus is constructed with an acoustic signal memory section for storing a digital acoustic signal, an acoustic frequency characteristic enhancing section for enhancing a frequency characteristic of a voice, and also low speed sound reproducing device for changing a speed of the stored voice to reproduce this voice at low speed.
In a digital hearing aid employing the digital acoustic signal processing apparatus according to the present invention, since after the voice has been stored in the acoustic signal memory section, a process for expanding a time scale of an acoustic signal is performed, the voice obtained after the enhancement process is represented to a user at low speed. Also, since the user can repeatedly reproduce a voice stored in the acoustic signal memory section with employment of a control section for controlling the voice reproducing operation, the user can repeatedly listen to the voice represented just before even when he cannot directly ask a speaker for again to repeat the previous talk.
In accordance with the present invention, since the voice whose frequency characteristic has been emphanced in order to be fitted to the individual characteristic is represented at low speed, the hearing characteristic of the hearing difficulty person with the deteriorated time resolution can be compensated. Also, since there is a function to store the voice, the inputted voice can be repeatedly reproduced afterward. As a consequence, even when the hearing difficulty person cannot repeatedly hear the speech made by the speaker, he can understand the information given by the voice. In addition, when the time scale expansion processing operation is carried out in the voice reproduction mode, since there is spare time produced by reproducing the voice at low speed, such a complex process that could not realized in view of the process speed of the DSP (digital signal processing) in the real time process, may be utilized.
The acoustic frequency characteristic processing section employed in the digital acoustic signal processing apparatus of the present invention, processes the frequency characteristic of the acoustic signal supplied from the device with sound output such as a television receiver and a telephone set in order to be fitted to the frequency characteristic of the hearing ability of the user and the user environment thereof. The voice to be represented is stored in the acoustic signal memory section, and thereafter the stored voice is reproduced by an apparatus for reproducing the voice with changing the speed of this voice. Furthermore, in case of the television receiver, since the voice must be outputted in synchronism with the pictu
Hotta Masao
Ikeda Hiroshi
Nejime Yoshito
Antonelli Terry Stout & Kraus LLP
Dorvil Richemond
Hitachi , Ltd.
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