Granted Patent B2

US 7,487,084 · App. 10/210,667 · Granted Feb 3, 2009

Abstract

Claims (48)

1. An apparatus for testing speech recognition in a new vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

a laptop computer;

a speaker arrangement which propagates a speech output based on a known text previously recorded by a human; wherein the text is comprised of a set of commands of interest, said speech output being stored digitally in a laptop computer;

a testing arrangement adapted to test the acceptability of installed speech recognition systems in vehicles while the vehicles are being operated on a roadway at speeds of 0, 30, and 60 miles per hour, wherein the acceptability of a particular vehicular speech recognition system is based upon a comparison of pre-specified standards of recognition accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio values with a recognition accuracy value and a signal-to-noise ratio value produced by the particular vehicular speech recognition system, based on the text recognized from the speech output and the testing arrangement is located separate from the vehicle being tested, the propagated speech output being transmitted to the testing arrangement via a cellular transmission unit located within the vehicle being tested;

wherein said speaker arrangement is configured to simulate the propagation of a human voice and is calibrated with respect to an audio input of an installed speech recognition system in a vehicle such that the speech output is propagated at the same pressure and distance from a microphone used to record the human speech;

wherein the speech output comprises three recordings of the human voice, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles, and one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour; and

wherein the apparatus is used to test every one-hundredth car that leaves an assembly line.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said speaker arrangement is configured to propagate speech output from a position corresponding to the mouth of an average-sized human seated in the vehicle.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said speaker arrangement is dimensioned to be seated on a vehicle seat and to propagate speech output from a position corresponding to the mouth of an average-sized human seated in the vehicle.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein said speaker arrangement comprises a torso portion and a head portion, said torso portion being dimensioned substantially similar to an average human torso and said head portion being dimensioned substantially similarly to an average human head, wherein speech output propagates from said head portion from a position corresponding to a human mouth.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said testing arrangement is integrable with a receiver arrangement adapted to pick up speech output from said speaker arrangement.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said testing arrangement comprises a speech recognizer.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said testing arrangement is further adapted to calculate a speech recognition score.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said testing arrangement is further adapted to calculate a signal-to-noise ratio.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said speaker arrangement is adapted to propagate prerecorded speech output.

10. A method of testing speech recognition in a new vehicle, said method comprising:

propagating a speech output via a speaker arrangement based on a known text previously recorded by a human; wherein the text is comprised of a set of commands of interest, said speech output being stored digitally in a laptop computer disposed within the new vehicle;

testing the acceptability of installed speech recognition systems in vehicles via a testing arrangement while the vehicles are being operated on a roadway at speeds of 0, 30, and 60 miles per hour, wherein the acceptability of a particular vehicular speech recognition system is based upon a comparison of pre-specified standards of recognition accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio values with a recognition accuracy value and a signal-to-noise ratio value produced by the particular vehicular speech recognition system, based on the text recognized from the speech output and the testing arrangement is located separate from the vehicle being tested, the propagated speech output being transmitted to the testing arrangement via a cellular transmission unit located within the vehicle being tested;

wherein said speaker arrangement is configured to simulate the propagation of a human voice and is calibrated with respect to an audio input of an installed speech recognition system in a vehicle such that the speech output is propagated at the same pressure and distance from a microphone used to record the human speech;

wherein the speech output comprises three recordings of the human voice, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles, and one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 0miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour; and

wherein the method is used to test every one-hundredth car that leaves an assembly line.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said simulating step comprises propagating speech output from a position corresponding to the mouth of an average-sized human seated in the vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

providing a speaker arrangement to perform said propagating step;

dimensioning said speaker arrangement to be seated on a vehicle seat and to propagate speech output from a position corresponding to the mouth of an average-sized human seated in the vehicle.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said step of providing a speaker arrangement comprises providing a torso portion and a head portion, said torso portion being dimensioned substantially similar to an average human torso and said head portion being dimensioned substantially similarly to an average human head, wherein speech output propagates from said head portion from a position corresponding to a human mouth.

14. The method according to claim 10 , further comprising the steps of:

providing a testing arrangement to perform said testing step; and

integrating said testing arrangement with a receiving arrangement adapted to pick up propagated speech output.

15. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said testing step comprises the step of performing speech recognition.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein said testing step comprises calculating a speech recognition score.

17. The method according to claim 15 , wherein said testing step comprises calculating a signal-to-noise ratio.

18. The method according to claim 10 , wherein said propagating step comprises propagating prerecorded speech output.

19. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for testing speech recognition in a new vehicle, said program storage device comprising:

propagating a speech output via a speaker arrangement based on a known text previously recorded by a human; wherein the text is comprised of a set of commands of interest, said speech output being stored digitally in a laptop computer disposed within the new vehicle;

testing the acceptability of installed speech recognition systems in vehicles via a testing arrangement while the vehicles are being operated on a roadway at speeds of 0, 30, and 60 miles per hour, wherein the acceptability of a particular vehicular speech recognition system is based upon a comparison of pre-specified standards of recognition accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio values with a recognition accuracy value and a signal-to-noise ratio value produced by the particular vehicular speech recognition system, based on the text recognized from the speech output and the testing arrangement is located separate from the vehicle being tested, the propagated speech output being transmitted to the testing arrangement via a cellular transmission unit located within the vehicle being tested;

wherein said speaker arrangement is configured to simulate the propagation of a human voice and is calibrated with respect to an audio input of an installed speech recognition system in a vehicle such that the speech output is propagated at the same pressure and distance from a microphone used to record the human speech;

wherein the speech output comprises three recordings of the human voice, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour, one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles. and one recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 0 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 0miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 30 miles per hour;

wherein the recording having been made while the human wore a headset playing noise typical of an automobile operating on a roadway at a speed of 60 miles per hour is played during the test when the vehicle is being operated on a roadway at a speed of 60miles per hour; and

wherein the method is used to test every one-hundredth car that leaves an assembly line.

Assignments (8)