Speech Technology Progress Based on New Machine Learning Paradigm.

Speech technologies have been developed for decades as a typical signal processing area, while the last decade has brought a huge progress based on new machine learning paradigms. Owing not only to their intrinsic complexity but also to their relation with cognitive sciences, speech technologies are now viewed as a prime example of interdisciplinary knowledge area. This review article on speech signal analysis and processing, corresponding machine learning algorithms, and applied computational intelligence aims to give an insight into several fields, covering speech production and auditory perception, cognitive aspects of speech communication and language understanding, both speech recognition and text-to-speech synthesis in more details, and consequently the main directions in development of spoken dialogue systems. Additionally, the article discusses the concepts and recent advances in speech signal compression, coding, and transmission, including cognitive speech coding. To conclude, the main intention of this article is to highlight recent achievements and challenges based on new machine learning paradigms that, over the last decade, had an immense impact in the field of speech signal processing.

Educational Applications for Blind and Partially Sighted Pupils Based on Speech Technologies for Serbian.

The inclusion of persons with disabilities has always represented an important issue. Advancements within the field of computer science have enabled the development of different types of aids, which have significantly improved the quality of life of the disabled. However, for some disabilities, such as visual impairment, the purpose of these aids is to establish an alternative communication channel and thus overcome the user's disability. Speech technologies play the crucial role in this process. This paper presents the ongoing efforts to create a set of educational applications based on speech technologies for Serbian for the early stages of education of blind and partially sighted children. Two educational applications dealing with memory exercises and comprehension of geometrical shapes are presented, along with the initial tests results obtained from research including visually impaired pupils.