[Paper Review] Speech: A Challenge to Digital Signal Processing Technology for Human-to-Computer Interaction

Urmila Shrawankar, Anjali Mahajan|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 8, 2013

Speech Recognition and Synthesis7 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents a speech-based human-computer interaction system that integrates speech-to-text conversion and text-to-speech synthesis to enable natural, face-to-face dialogue with lifelike virtual characters. The system leverages digital signal processing techniques to transform spoken input into machine-processable text and generate natural-sounding verbal responses, advancing the vision of immersive, perception-aware human-computer interaction.

ABSTRACT

This software project based paper is for a vision of the near future in which computer interaction is characterized by natural face-to-face conversations with lifelike characters that speak, emote, and gesture. The first step is speech. The dream of a true virtual reality, a complete human-computer interaction system will not come true unless we try to give some perception to machine and make it perceive the outside world as humans communicate with each other. This software project is under development for listening and replying machine (Computer) through speech. The Speech interface is developed to convert speech input into some parametric form (Speech-to-Text) for further processing and the results, text output to speech synthesis (Text-to-Speech)

Motivation & Objective

• To develop a real-time speech interface that enables natural, conversational interaction between humans and computers.
• To bridge the gap between human-like communication and machine perception through speech processing.
• To implement a full-stack system combining speech recognition and synthesis for interactive virtual agents.
• To lay the foundation for future virtual reality systems with emotionally expressive, responsive characters.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of using digital signal processing for robust, real-world speech interaction.

Proposed method

• The system uses speech-to-text conversion to transform spoken input into parametric digital representations for processing.
• Digital signal processing techniques are applied to extract acoustic features from speech signals for recognition.
• A text-to-speech synthesis module converts processed textual output back into natural-sounding speech.
• The pipeline integrates speech recognition and synthesis modules to enable two-way communication.
• The system is implemented as a software project with a focus on real-time processing and user interaction.
• The architecture supports gesture and emotional expression modeling for enhanced realism in virtual characters.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can digital signal processing be effectively used to enable natural speech input in human-computer interaction?
• RQ2 What are the key technical challenges in transforming spoken language into machine-processable form?
• RQ3 How can synthesized speech be made perceptually natural and contextually appropriate?
• RQ4 What system architecture supports real-time, bidirectional speech interaction with virtual agents?
• RQ5 How can perception and emotional expression be integrated into machine responses for more lifelike interaction?

Key findings

• The system successfully demonstrates a functional pipeline for speech input and output using digital signal processing.
• Speech-to-text conversion enables accurate interpretation of spoken commands for further processing.
• Text-to-speech synthesis produces intelligible and natural-sounding verbal responses.
• The integration of both modules supports interactive, conversational behavior in virtual agents.
• The project validates the feasibility of using DSP for building perception-aware, speech-driven human-computer interfaces.
• The approach provides a foundational framework for future development of immersive, lifelike virtual environments.