Hands-free device control using sound picked up in the ear canal

Siddharth R. Chhatpar; Lester Ngia; Chris Vlach; Dong Lin; Craig Birkhimer; Amit Juneja; Tarun Pruthi; Orin Hoffman; Tristan Lewis

doi:10.1117/12.777877

29 April 2008 Hands-free device control using sound picked up in the ear canal

Siddharth R. Chhatpar, Lester Ngia, Chris Vlach, Dong Lin, Craig Birkhimer, Amit Juneja, Tarun Pruthi, Orin Hoffman, Tristan Lewis

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6962, Unmanned Systems Technology X; 696210 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.777877
Event: SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, 2008, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Hands-free control of unmanned ground vehicles is essential for soldiers, bomb disposal squads, and first responders. Having their hands free for other equipment and tasks allows them to be safer and more mobile. Currently, the most successful hands-free control devices are speech-command based. However, these devices use external microphones, and in field environments, e.g., war zones and fire sites, their performance suffers because of loud ambient noise: typically above 90dBA. This paper describes the development of technology using the ear as an output source that can provide excellent command recognition accuracy even in noisy environments. Instead of picking up speech radiating from the mouth, this technology detects speech transmitted internally through the ear canal. Discreet tongue movements also create air pressure changes within the ear canal, and can be used for stealth control. A patented earpiece was developed with a microphone pointed into the ear canal that captures these signals generated by tongue movements and speech. The signals are transmitted from the earpiece to an Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) through a wired connection. The UMPC processes the signals and utilizes them for device control. The processing can include command recognition, ambient noise cancellation, acoustic echo cancellation, and speech equalization. Successful control of an iRobot PackBot has been demonstrated with both speech (13 discrete commands) and tongue (5 discrete commands) signals. In preliminary tests, command recognition accuracy was 95% with speech control and 85% with tongue control.

Citation Download Citation

Siddharth R. Chhatpar, Lester Ngia, Chris Vlach, Dong Lin, Craig Birkhimer, Amit Juneja, Tarun Pruthi, Orin Hoffman, and Tristan Lewis "Hands-free device control using sound picked up in the ear canal", Proc. SPIE 6962, Unmanned Systems Technology X, 696210 (29 April 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.777877

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available