JP2005057737A - Speech input device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problem that a speech input device used in a conventional communication device or the like requires utterance by vocal chords, which may become nuisance for surrounding people and the communication content leak may occur. <P>SOLUTION: A vibrator to take place of vocal chords is closely attached to a user neck. The vibration generated by the vibrator is formed into a speech by modifying the tongue position and form of the cavity of mouth. The speech sound is collected by a microphone such as a contact type microphone closely attached to the user neck. Thus, it is possible to provide a speech input device capable of communication and speech input without leaking the speech outside. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a voice input device that can input voice without utterance due to vocal cord vibration.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in communication means such as a mobile phone, a voice uttered is acquired via a microphone and transmitted to a call target. It is designed so that conversations can be made with the call target by transmitting and receiving. However, when communicating by telephone or the like, there is a problem that surrounding people can hear the voice, which causes inconvenience and the secret of communication is not ensured even for the caller. Further, when text data or operation commands are input to a computer or the like by voice, there is a problem that voice leaking into the air becomes noise to the surroundings or the confidentiality of input contents cannot be maintained. Furthermore, in the case of voice input by normal voice, there is a case where an error is input to the computer due to individual differences in voice quality, and therefore enroll work (personal voice registration work) is required.

  As a first conventional technique, there is a silencer for a mobile phone that prevents a voice from being leaked to the outside as much as possible when a mobile phone user utters into a flexible elastic envelope such as rubber or synthetic resin (patent) Reference 1).

As a second prior art, messages indicating frequently used conversation contents are classified and classified in advance, and an appropriate message is selected and the voice data of the message is reproduced from the recording unit, and the message is reproduced. There is a mobile phone device that transmits voice data to a communication partner via a communication unit (see Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-244622 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.) Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-211250 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  A speaker is always required to speak in communication means such as a mobile phone. For this reason, it is difficult to communicate without disturbing others in public places such as in trains due to voice leaking outside. Furthermore, there is a risk that communication contents and input contents may be leaked to others due to voice leaked to the outside. In order to solve such a problem, the above first and second conventional techniques have been proposed.

  However, the first prior art cannot completely prevent the voice from leaking to the outside, and it is difficult to control the volume of the voice due to the vibration of the vocal cords. Therefore, when the first prior art is used, there is a possibility that a loud voice will be produced at a place with a lot of noise, such as in a train, and the surroundings may be disturbed. It is also difficult to control the strength of the voice so that other people do not understand the content of the conversation in a quiet environment.

In the second prior art, since it is necessary to register conversation contents, free conversation is not possible, and it is difficult to exchange information in real time.
As described above, in the prior art, the voice cannot be heard outside, and the voice cannot be input.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention collects a vibrating body that produces an original sound instead of a vocal cord, and a voice produced by a user's articulation operation using the vibration of the vibrating body as an energy source. An audio input device comprising a microphone for sounding. According to such a voice input device, voice input can be performed without requiring vocal cord vibration.

  Specifically, the voice input device according to the present invention transmits the vibration generated by the vibrating body instead of the vocal cord vibration to the oral cavity, and performs composition by changing the position and shape of the tongue, mouth, and lips. It has a microphone that collects the sound.

In this voice input device, if electric vibration is strengthened, the sound leaks to the outside, but the output of the vibrating body is adjusted so that the sound does not leak to the outside or the surrounding people can hardly recognize the sound, and the talk is made Collect voice with microphone. The collected voice is converted into an electrical signal and is usually sent to an input destination such as a communication medium or a computer. Use the optimal frequency of the original sound according to the input destination. At this time, a plurality of operating frequencies may be used. The frequency used may be variable so that it can be changed according to the situation. Here, as the vibrating body, an electric vibrating body (such as a piezoelectric sounding body or an electronic sounding body) used in an electric artificial larynx or the like can be used, but a vibrating body by other mechanisms may be used.
Further, as the microphone, a contact type microphone (also referred to as a bone conduction microphone) used in contact with the skin is suitable, but other types of microphones such as a directional microphone may be used in the vicinity of the lips.

  Since the original sound is emitted by the vibrating body instead of the vocal cord, the individual difference in the voice quality of the generated voice is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent erroneous voice recognition due to individual differences in voice quality when inputting voice to a computer or the like, and to omit or simplify enroll work (personal voice registration work).

In addition, a voice input device that can accommodate user characteristics and input destination characteristics can be provided by a voice input device that further includes a mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound produced by the vibrator and / or a mechanism for controlling the frequency of the vibrator. . The mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound produced by such a vibrating body is preferably controlled to a sound pressure of 20 dB or less due to background noise. That is, it is preferable that the mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound generated by the vibrating body is controlled to a sound pressure that cannot be heard by healthy persons in the vicinity.
In addition, since the microphone is a contact microphone, it is possible to provide a high-performance voice input device that is extremely unlikely to leak sound to the outside.
In addition, a telephone that can solve the above-described problems can be provided by a telephone that includes the above-described voice input device. Here, the telephone includes a mobile phone, a fixed phone, a PHS, and the like.
Moreover, you may comprise an audio | voice input apparatus by the structure which attaches said vibrating body to a commercially available mobile telephone etc., for example.
Furthermore, an information processing apparatus that solves the above-described problems can be provided by the information processing apparatus including the above-described voice input device. Here, the information processing apparatus includes a personal computer, a workstation, a large computer, a PDA, a word processor, and the like.

  According to the voice input device of the present invention, voice input can be performed without so-called utterance.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a voice input device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of each embodiment, the same number may be assigned to the same component and the description thereof may be omitted.
In the following description, a mobile phone and a personal computer voice input device will be mainly described as examples. However, the following technologies are not only used for voice input devices for mobile phones and personal computers, but also for voice input to communication devices such as fixed telephones, wireless, transceivers, and information processing devices such as word processors, workstations, large computers, PDAs, It can be used for voice control. Needless to say, mobile phones include PHS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the flow of voice in various devices such as a mobile phone, including the voice input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The voice input device 10 includes a vibrating body 12 and a contact microphone 17. The skin 13, the oral cavity 14, and the skin 16 are part of the user's body. In addition, although the example at the time of using a contact-type microphone was given in FIG. 1, the kind of microphone may be other than this.
First, vibration is generated by the vibrating body 12 attached to various devices 11 such as a mobile phone. In addition, since the vibrating body used as a substitute for the vocal cords has been put into practical use as an artificial larynx, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, the vibration generated by the vibrating body 12 passes through the skin 13 such as the neck or the face and reaches the oral cavity 14. The vibration transmitted to the inside of the oral cavity 14 is made into an arbitrary sound 15 by the speaker's tongue and mouth shape. The synthesized sound 15 passes through the skin 16 again and is collected by a contact microphone 17 attached to various devices 11 such as a mobile phone. The collected sound is converted into an electric signal and used for communication or the like. Various devices 11 such as mobile phones have a mechanism for converting sound into an electrical signal. Since such a mechanism is also a known technique, detailed description thereof is omitted. In this example, the case where the vibrating body and the microphone are both outside the body and in contact with the skin is shown. However, the positions of the vibrating body and the microphone are not limited to this example. The vibrating body can be installed outside the body, in the oral cavity, in the ear canal, etc., and the microphone can also be installed outside the body, in the oral cavity, in the ear canal, or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of an example when attached to a mobile phone. A vibrating body 22 and a contact microphone 23 are installed in a lower body 25 of the mobile phone 21. Usually, the vibrating body and the contact type microphone are used while being in contact with the user's skin, but the mounting positions of the vibrating body and the contact type microphone are not restricted by this embodiment. For example, it may be in the main body. In addition, the support part that connects the vibrator or contact microphone to the main body may be made of a flexible material so that it can be in good contact with the skin, or it can be expanded and contracted like an antenna of a mobile phone. Good. That is, the material of a support part etc. does not ask | require. A microphone other than the contact type can also be used.

  FIG. 3 is a view of the lower half of the main body of FIG. 2 as viewed from the side. In this figure, the tip is curved in order to bring the vibrating body 22 and the contact type microphone 23 into closer contact with the neck when the voice input device according to the present invention is used. However, the shape of the microphone and the type of microphone are constrained to this embodiment. It is not done. The shape of the microphone may be a shape that covers the mouth, for example.

  FIG. 4 shows an example when it is attached to a personal computer voice input device. An arm extending from the headset portion 41 is divided into two at the tip. A vibration body 22 and a contact microphone 23 are provided at each tip. The arm 24 that supports the vibrating body 22 and the contact microphone 23 is telescopic so that the vibrating body 22 and the contact microphone 23 can move to appropriate positions. However, the shape and structure of the microphone and the type of microphone are not limited to the present embodiment.

As described above, the voice input device according to the present embodiment is a voice input device including the vibrator that generates the original sound and the microphone that collects the voice produced by the articulation operation. The device can input voice without so-called utterance.
In addition, if this voice input device is used for communication devices such as mobile phones and computers, it does not require utterances, so it does not bother other people even in public places and other people can know the contents of communication. Voice input to communication devices and computers. In addition, if this voice input device is used in a communication device such as a mobile phone or a computer, voice input to the communication device, computer, etc. can be comfortably performed even in noise. Furthermore, when using a communication device or the like, the above-described effects can be obtained with the same posture as before.

In addition, since the voice input device uses an electric vibrator used in an artificial larynx or the like, a voice input to a communication device, a computer, or the like that is comfortable for a person who has an utterance disorder due to laryngectomy or the like can be performed.
Further, when this voice input device is used for voice input to a computer or the like, even if a plurality of people use it simultaneously, the adjacent voice does not become noise.
In addition, when this voice input device is used as a voice input means to a computer or the like having a voice recognition function, the original sound is an electric voice with no pitch change, and there is little individual difference in voice quality, and in the voice recognition process. As a result, the recognition error of speech is reduced. Further, when this voice input device is used as voice input means for a computer or the like, the enrollment work can be simplified for voice recognition.
Further, the voice input device may be used for an IC recorder or a recording device that receives and records voice input. In such a case, it is possible to record audio without disturbing other people.

Note that the voice input device according to the present embodiment preferably further includes a mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound created by the vibrating body and / or a mechanism for controlling the frequency of the vibrating body. A mechanism that controls the sound pressure of the original sound produced by the vibrating body can handle user characteristics such as the thickness of the user's skin, and no matter what user uses the voice input device, sound can be heard externally. In addition, voice input can be easily performed. Similarly, if a mechanism for controlling the frequency of the vibrating body is provided, it is possible to provide a voice input device that can cope with various user characteristics and input destination characteristics. Since a mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound produced by the vibrating body and a mechanism for controlling the frequency of the vibrating body are known techniques, detailed description thereof is omitted. In addition, since the sound cannot be heard outside, it is preferable that the mechanism for controlling the sound pressure of the original sound generated by the vibrating body controls the sound pressure of the original sound generated by the vibrating body to a sound pressure of 20 dB or less due to background noise. .
Furthermore, you may comprise an audio | voice input apparatus by the structure which attaches said vibrating body to a commercially available mobile telephone etc., for example. That is, the vibrating body may be an attachment such as a mobile phone. Specifically, the vibrating body 22 or the vibrating body 12 may be separated from the voice input device.

  The present invention is useful, for example, in various wireless communication devices such as mobile phones (transceivers, wireless, etc.), wired various communication devices such as telephones, and devices that perform voice input to various devices such as computers and PDAs.

The block diagram which showed the flow of the audio | voice which concerns on embodiment of this invention Schematic front view of the entire mobile phone in the embodiment of the present invention Schematic side view of the lower part of the mobile phone in the embodiment of the present invention Schematic of a voice input device to a computer or the like in an embodiment of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Voice input device 11 Various apparatuses, such as communication apparatus 12, 22 Vibrating body 13, 16 Skin 14 Oral 15 Articulation performed in oral cavity 17, 23 Contact type microphone 21 Mobile phone main body 24 Telescopic part 25 Lower part of mobile phone main body 41 Computer etc. Voice input device to the headset part

Claims (6)

An audio input device comprising: a vibrating body that produces an original sound; and a microphone that collects a voice produced by performing a composition operation. 2. The voice input device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism for controlling a sound pressure of an original sound generated by the vibrator, and / or a mechanism for controlling a frequency of the vibrator. The voice input device according to claim 1, wherein the microphone is a contact type microphone. A telephone comprising the voice input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. An information processing apparatus comprising the voice input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A vibrating body constituting the voice input device according to claim 1.

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