Some Applications of a Small Digital Computer in Speech Processing

An increase in the rate and the intelligibility of sound is highly desirable in speech communication. Also, it is useful to have an accurate and efficient method of obtaining desired segments of a speech sample. In this paper, the use of a small digital computer in processing the speech signal to achieve the above purposes is described with illustrations. On‐line simulation of the method of Fairbanks et al. [G. Fairbanks et al., IRE Trans. Audio 2, 7–12, (1954)] of increasing the speech rate has been achieved with flexible speed‐up ratios and sampling intervals. Increase of intelligibility in speech signals by converting them into dichotic signals with an interaural time delay is discussed. These dichotic signals have been obtained from the computer for time delays between 0 and 1 sec. To obtain different segments of a speech sample, the computer is programmed to store the speech sample and display its waveform on an oscilloscope, so that various segments of the speech sample can be extracted and also joi...