Study to determine potential flight applications and human factors design guidelines for voice recognition and synthesis systems

A study was conducted to determine potential commercial aircraft flight deck applications and implementation guidelines for voice recognition and synthesis. At first, a survey of voice recognition and synthesis technology was undertaken to develop a working knowledge base. Then, numerous potential aircraft and simulator flight deck voice applications were identified and each proposed application was rated on a number of criteria in order to achieve an overall payoff rating. The potential voice recognition applications fell into five general categories: programming, interrogation, data entry, switch and mode selection, and continuous/time-critical action control. The ratings of the first three categories showed the most promise of being beneficial to flight deck operations. Possible applications of voice synthesis systems were categorized as automatic or pilot selectable and many were rated as being potentially beneficial. In addition, voice system implementation guidelines and pertinent performance criteria are proposed. Finally, the findings of this study are compared with those made in a recent NASA study of a 1995 transport concept

Bahasa Melayu (BM) Screen Reader for Visually Impaired Internet Users

Currently, the Internet usage is rising at a frenzied rate as knowledge and information sharing becomes easy and is time-saving. Regrettably, the visually impaired do not enjoy this liberty and they are facing difficulties in using computer and the Internet to seize any shared and available information. This difficulty is faced especially among the visually impaired Malay language medium Internet user. Specifically, existing screen reader cannot fully cater for users who need to browse the Malay language web pages. The inability of screen reader narration to enunciate Malay words correctly has become a restriction for the visually impaired to acquire any information in the Malay language. Narration of the words are done by non-Malay speakers and the enunciation of those words confuses and at times, do not help users. Thus, this project addresses this issue by investigating the difficulties for visually impaired Internet user to understand what is spoken when using screen readers without a native Malay narrator or speaker. This project aims to reduce the time needed for the visually impaired to understand the information in the Malay language read by the narrator of the screen reader. This project also strives to develop a screen reader prototype, which is able to read in Bahasa Melayu (BM) using local accent. To achieve all the objectives, preliminary interviews and testing session were conducted to collect data to test the hypothesis made. The findings are then will be used as main source of data to develop a prototype of the screen reader. From the built prototype, user testing will be conducted with a sample group of visually impaired to test the functionalities and evaluate the effectiveness of the software. The results and recommendations will be shared by the end of the project as a key milestone for future enhancement

Innermost Echoes: Integrating Real-Time Physiology into Live Music Performances

In this paper, we propose a method for utilizing musical artifacts and physiological data as a means for creating a new form of live music experience that is rooted in the physiology of the perform- ers and audience members. By utilizing physiological data (namely Electrodermal Activity (EDA) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)) and applying this data to musical artifacts including a robotic koto (a traditional 13-string Japanese instrument fitted with solenoids and linear actuators), a Eurorack synthesizer, and Max/MSP software, we aim to develop a new form of semi-improvisational and signif- icantly indeterminate performance practice. It has since evolved into a multi-modal methodology which honors improvisational performance practices and utilizes physiological data which of- fers both performers and audiences an ever-changing and intimate experience. In our first exploratory phase, we focused on the development of a means for controlling a bespoke robotic koto in conjunction with a Eurorack synthesizer system and Max/MSP software for controlling the incoming data. We integrated a reliance on physiological data to infuse a more directly human elements into this artifact system. This allows a significant portion of the decision-making to be directly controlled by the incoming physiological data in real-time, thereby affording a sense of performativity within this non-living system. Our aim is to continue the development of this method to strike a novel balance between intentionality and impromptu performative results

Development of an Open Source Urdu Screen Reader for Visually Impaired People

Abstract Speech technology has enabled computer accessibility for users with visual impairments but the language barrier poses a great challenge. This project is an effort to overcome the hurdles faced by visually impaired people, in terms of language barrier, by providing them access to digital information through software which can communicate with them in Urdu. A survey was conducted in schools for blind to assess their information and communication needs. The survey helped to deduce the learning abilities, competency level and usability requirements of visually impaired children. An open source screen reader, NVDA was localized and afterwards integrated with Urdu text-to-speech system. The system was deployed in a school of visually impaired children where they participated in training and testing of the system. Results showed that visually impaired children performed equally well and in some cases even better with the localized screen reader as compared to an English screen reader

Design of a Controlled Language for Critical Infrastructures Protection

We describe a project for the construction of controlled language for critical infrastructures protection (CIP). This project originates from the need to coordinate and categorize the communications on CIP at the European level. These communications can be physically represented by official documents, reports on incidents, informal communications and plain e-mail. We explore the application of traditional library science tools for the construction of controlled languages in order to achieve our goal. Our starting point is an analogous work done during the sixties in the field of nuclear science known as the Euratom Thesaurus.JRC.G.6-Security technology assessmen