bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence on story prediction of movie by difference in music
Authors: Mito Yuki , Suzuki Ayame , Kawakami Hiroshi
Published: November 2016

The music often may assist to predict of movie work that has story line. The interpretation of the movie may sometimes change by music. In fact, there are many movies changing a story by music intentionally. In this way, interpretation of the story changes by using multi-modal. In the preceding research, we have known that the story of the movie can change by music but there are kind of movies used in the research, there is no assumption research of actual television or commercial. In this study, we studied how the difference of the music will influence. We have created four different types of music and silence for the movie, only played by piano as to lose prejudice by using types of other instruments. The short movie which created lasts 30 seconds will ends unfinished in order to match all kinds of stories. As a result, we have found that when the story is vague, prediction will change by the difference of the music after the movie. We hope this study helps producers of television and movies to convey their intentions more appropriately to ordinance.
Synchronization and periodicity of auditory and visual accents affect perceived congruence between sound and moving pictures
Authors: Liu Saki , Takishita Fumiyuki , Gao Jingjing , Ishida Kae , Iwamiya Shin-ichiro
Published: November 2016

Continuous rating experiments focused on the congruence between moving pictures and sounds have shown that synchronization between auditory and visual accents is fundamental to audiovisual congruence. We conducted experiments with snare sounds as auditory accents and changes in the color of a full screen as visual accents. We found that the periodicity of the auditory and visual accents contributed to the audiovisual congruence, in addition to the synchronization between auditory and visual accents. We found the highest level of congruence when the accents were periodic and frequently synchronized. Conversely, the congruence level was lower when the auditory and visual accents were less frequently synchronized. The contribution of auditory periodicity to the perceived congruence was greater than that of visual periodicity. Additionally, when we used stimuli consisting of synchronized and asynchronized audiovisual elements, we observed an effect of context on congruence with respect to continuous ratings. When we presented a stream of asynchronized audiovisual accents after a synchronized stream, the level of high congruence was maintained for a short period. In contrast, just after presentation of a steam of asynchronized accents, we found that the congruence level of a stream of synchronized accents
Telematic systems seen from a music instrument building perspective
Authors: Braasch Jonas
Published: November 2016

New digital technologies enabled the Virtual Reality movement in the 1990s, which led to the euphoric belief that we could virtually teleport ourselves to a distant location with such great realism that the user would lose the awareness for the enabling technology. Especially, in the particular case of music collaborations, however, it has meanwhile become clear that this goal is unreachable because of the unavoidable transmission latency over long distances and other secondary factors. This presentation explores how we can create new and better audiovisual design goals for telematic music collaborations, by treating telematic systems as a new form of musical instrument. From this viewpoint, the creation of new forms of art for the new medium become a central challenge, and not only the development of better telematic technology. In particular, the new works need to focus on the new affordances that the telematic system brings with it, and not only circumnavigate current system limitations. [Work supported by NSF grant #12293911.]
Virtual acoustics in multimedia production—Beyond enhancing the acoustics of concert halls
Authors: Woszczyk Wieslaw
Published: November 2016

The paper describes a range of applications of virtual acoustics, the rendering of artificial acoustic spaces, which allow musicians to interact with ambient spaces created in real time. With a number of loudspeakers suitably distributed within a physical enclosure, such a projection system can be used to introduce a range of sound fields, which may effectively transform the acoustic environment to become a creative partner in multimedia production. A necessary component in this system is a low-latency, high-resolution multichannel convolution engine that converts a live audio signal into a structured ambient response, creating a scene in real time. Scenes can be changed to suit various goals of production and sonic narration. A number of techniques have been used to capture and modify impulse responses including temporal segmentation, shaping of magnitude envelope, noise reduction, spectral enrichment, time shifting and alignment, and parallel and sequential convolution. With these methods, artists may interact with novel acoustic responses as if they were musical instruments. Artists claim that many of the familiar as well as novel acoustic responses stimulate their creativity. Flexible variable virtual acoustics opens additional creative possibilities when employed as a component of a recording studio, either directly or when rendered over headphones.
Modeling and formulation of microperforated panels in the finite-difference time-domain method
Authors: Eto Daiki , Toyoda Masahiro , Kawai Yasuhito
Published: November 2016

A microperforated panel (MPP) was first developed by Maa and is recently regarded as one of the most promising absorption materials for next generation. Considering the approximation formula suggested by Maa, impedance of the perforations cannot be directly implemented in time-domain calculations because the impedance depends on frequency. Some new ideas are therefore necessary to take into account the effects of an MPP in time-domain analyses. Herein, a method to consider effects of an MPP in the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analyses is proposed. An MPP is considered as a boundary condition and the frequency dependence in the calculation is removed by replacing the frequency-dependent terms with constant values which are derived based on the multiple regression analysis. Additionally, the stability condition of the MPP boundary for one-dimensional sound field is developed. Absorption characteristics of MPP absorbers with back air layers of various depths are calculated numerically and compared with analytical ones. Consequently, stable calculations are achieved by satisfying both the CFL condition and the stability condition of the MPP boundary and the high prediction accuracy and wide applicability are confirmed.
Limp microperforated panel finite elements and its application
Authors: Okuzono Takeshi , Sakagami Kimihiro
Published: November 2016

Microperforated panel (MPP) absorbers provide relatively broadband sound absorption with the superior material properties in durability, recyclability, and flexibility of design, and they can be considered as an attractive alternative of conventional sound absorbers. Recently, with the rapid progress of computer technology, numerical methods such as finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method have become powerful design tools for developing MPP absorbers with the consideration of advantage in handling arbitrary geometries, and there exist some computational models of MPP. This paper presents a simple and computationally efficient limp MPP elements to treat MPP absorbers in finite element analysis and the performance is demonstrated in various problems. First, the theory of MPP elements is presented briefly. Then, the validity is shown using impedance tube problems, in which the absorption characteristics of some MPP absorbers calculated using FEM are compared with the theoretical values. Finally, the applicability to room acoustics simulations is demonstrated by calculating transfer functions and impulse responses of rooms with practical dimensions.
Sound absorption of micro-perforated panels in complex vibroacoustic environment: Modeling, mechanism, and applications
Authors: Cheng Li
Published: November 2016

As an environmental-friendly and broadband sound absorption materials, micro-perforated panels start to find their wide applications in compact mechanical systems featuring complex acoustic behaviors. Evidences show that, under such circumstances, MPPs work quite differently from the way they behave in traditional architectural or building acoustic applications. This paper summarizes some of our recent work on the modelling, analyses and optimizations of mechanical systems with embedded MPP absorbers. It is demonstrated that the complex acoustic environment in which the MPP is put in creates formidable technical challenges in terms of modeling, analyses, and optimization on one hand, but also opportunities for achieving better sound absorption by making use of the vibroacoustic coupling principles for various applications. [This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No. 11272272.]
Optimum duct liners and modal filters
Authors: Åbom Mats , Sack Stefan , Kabral Raimo
Published: November 2016

Two strategies for applying micro-perforated plates (MPP:s) to create duct sections with a high or optimum damping of sound are discussed. The first is based on realizing the so called Cremer impedance by creating a locally reacting wall boundary (“liner”) that consists of a MPP backed by an air cavity. This principal can be used to realize the Cremer impedance at a single frequency where typically a damping of several hundred dB/m can be achieved. The proposed solution is robust and gives high damping also in a wide band around the target (optimum) frequency. The second strategy is based on MPP plates arranged along pressure nodes (minima) for a given acoustic cross-mode. This means that the MPP will be located at modal velocity maxima, thereby creating a large modal damping. In principle both strategies are optimum for a particular mode and can be seen as a modal filter, i.e., a device that reduces or “kills” a particular incident mode. The proposed strategies have been investigated theoretically as well as numerically and a number of prototypes have been built and tested. In particular, two applications will be discussed: IC-engine compressor noise and aircraft ventilation noise.
Infrasonic and seismic eruption tremors and their relation to magma discharge rate: A case study for the 2011 eruption of Shinmoe-dake, Japan
Authors: Ichihara Mie
Published: November 2016

Infrasound monitoring is a useful tool to capture surface activity of volcanoes. Previous works have attempted to connect observations of infrasonic eruption tremors with magma discharge rate that is an important parameter to characterize an eruption. Power law scaling relations with different power indices have been proposed based on various datasets and models. Independently, different power law relations have been proposed between seismic eruption tremors and magma discharge rate. The 2011 eruption of Shinmoe-dake, Japan, provides an excellent dataset with which to investigate these relationships for a sustained explosive eruption sequence. Magma discharge rates are well constrained by geodetic, geologic, and remote sensing methods. Seismic and infrasonic data were recorded close to the vent. Linear power law relationships are found to fit all pairs of variables (seismic eruption tremor power, infrasonic eruption tremor power, and magma discharge rate) in the quasi-stable or slowly growing stages of the eruption. Existing models do not fully explain the observed relationships. It is proposed that the eruption generated eruption tremors in the ground and atmosphere by successive explosions in the conduit and the linear relation is observed only under the stable condition of eruptive behaviors.
Past, present, and future infrasound volcanic's explosion detection capability in Southeast Asia
Authors: Taisne Benoit , Perttu Anna , Garces Milton
Published: November 2016

On August, 26th 1883, meteorologist across Europe, observed an anomaly in the atmospheric pressure measurements, turns out that it was generated by an explosive eruption of Krakatau that happened more than 11,000 km away. Nevertheless, detection is not easily granted and will be affected by regional to global atmospheric conditions, mainly winds and temperature profile. Other atmospheric phenomena, such as clouds, would not be affecting infrasound, but might reduce the chance of observing the expanding ash cloud from space. Those limitations are of paramount importance when talking about aviation safety. The ever-growing demand for air-traffic is accommodated by increasing the number of travellers in the air at any one time, bringing with it the need to improve early detection of volcanic ash cloud so that planes could be rerouted to safer paths. The issue is especially pertinent in Southeast Asia with the recent boom in air-traffic, and the 749 potentially active volcanoes in the region. In terms of volcanic explosivity index (VEI), the probability of VEI-4 (ash up to 25 km and spreading for more than 1000 km) in any ten years span in SE-Asia is one, while this probability is of 0.630 and 0.135 for VEI-5 and 6, respectively. In this presentation, we will focus on the remote detection capability that we have with today's instruments, and how we can improve it in the future.
Acoustic surveillance of hazardous volcanic eruptions (ASHE) in Asia
Authors: Ngemaes Maria , Taisne Benoit , Murayama Takahiku , Blanc Elisabeth , Tupper Andrew , Mialle Pierrick , Lee Hee-Il , Garces Milton A.
Published: November 2016

The ASHE Ecuador (2004-2012) collaboration between Ecuador, Canada, and the United States demonstrated the capability to use real-time infrasound to provide low-latency volcanic eruption notifications to the Volcano Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Washington DC. The Atmospheric dynamics Research Infrastructure in Europe (ARISE, 2012-2018) supported by the European Commission fosters integrating innovative methods for remote detection and characterization of distant eruptive sources through collaborations with the VAAC Toulouse and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The ASHE Asia project proposes an international collaboration between the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the VAAC Darwin, National Data Centers in Japan, Korea, and Palau, and will receive the support of ARISE, to provide improved early notification of potentially hazardous eruptions in Asia and the Western Pacific using a combination of established technologies and next-generation mobile sensing systems. The increased availability of open seismo-acoustic data in the ASEAN region as well as recent advances in mobile distributed sensors networks will facilitate unprecedented rapid progress in monitoring remote regions for early detection of hazardous volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters.
Characterizing infrasonic ocean ambient noise in Northwest Pacific
Authors: Le Pichon Alexis , Vergoz Julien , Pilger Christoph , Ceranna Lars , Ardhuin Fabrice
Published: November 2016

The ability of the International Monitoring System (IMS) infrasound network to detect atmospheric explosions and events of interest strongly depends on station specific ambient noise which includes both incoherent wind noise and real coherent infrasonic waves. To characterize the coherent ambient noise, a broadband array processing was performed with IMS continuous waveform archive from 2007 to 2016 using the Progressive Multi-Channel Correlation algorithm (PMCC). The processing parameters include a new implementation of adaptive frequency dependent window length and a logarithmic band spacing. Such configuration allows to better discriminate between interfering signals with improved accuracy in the wave parameters estimations. Multi-year comparisons between the observed and modeled directional microbarom amplitude variations at several IMS stations using two-dimensional wave energy spectrum ocean wave products are performed to build of a reference database of infrasound oceanic sources in Northwest Pacific. The expected benefits of such studies concern the use of multi-year complementary data to finely characterize coupling mechanisms at the ocean-atmosphere interface. In return, a better knowledge of the source of the ambient ocean noise opens new perspectives by providing additional integrated constraints on the dynamics of the middle atmosphere and its disturbances where data coverage is sparse.
Cosmos supersonic reentry analysis: A case study using traditional and mobile infrasound arrays
Authors: Schnurr Julie , Garces Milton , Christie Anthony
Published: November 2016

On August 31, 2015, the fiery reentry of the Soviet Cosmos 1315 was sighted over the Hawaiian Islands. The supersonic reentry of the satellite was detected with both traditional infrasound arrays located on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai, and with iPods using the RedVox infrasound recorder on the Big Island and Oahu. We apply array-processing techniques to reconstruct the trajectory of the satellite. In addition, we have developed a standardized multi-resolution framework that uses the Gabor limit to define a scaled set of frequencies and windows for transient feature extraction. Metrics are evaluated over a set of standardized log-scaled time windows in order to characterize waveforms. I describe a method to detect transients in infrasonic arrays with low signal to noise where beam forming is not possible, and apply it to the analysis of signals produced by the supersonic Cosmos 1315 reentry.
A big data pipeline for temporospatial infrasound analysis
Authors: Christe Anthony , Garces Milton , Schnurr Julie , Magana-Zook Steven
Published: November 2016

Smartphone and IoT sensors allow us to build dense distributed sensor networks that supplement traditional networks. We examine next-generation technologies powering the acquisition, analysis, and reporting of infrasound data. With the advent of distributed computing, managing data flow from sensor networks has become increasingly complex. Due to the increased volume, velocity, and variety of data being produced, data acquisition, storage, analysis, and reporting techniques are evolving from single server to distributed computation architectures. In collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we survey and implement several Big Data technologies to tackle these issues. We implement a system that allows distributed acquisition using Akka actors, a custom time synchronization protocol, intermediate persistent queues with Apache Kafka, long term persistence using a NoSQL database, and real-time analysis and reporting with Apache Spark and Python. We describe how these software components work together to provide acquisition and analysis for recent infrasound signatures of surf, volcanic eruption, and supersonic sources.
Auditory space perception during self-motion
Authors: Sakamoto Shuichi , Teramoto Wataru , Honda Akio , Suzuki Yôiti , Gyoba Jiro
Published: November 2016

Spatial information inputted to the auditory periphery dramatically changes with a listener’s body movements relative to the sound source. Nevertheless, listeners can perceive a stable auditory environment and react appropriately to the sound source. This suggests that the spatial information is reinterpreted in the brain by being integrated with information regarding movement, while it is well known that the motion itself sometimes negatively affects sound localization acuity. We have focused on how people perceive auditory space during movement. A linear-motor-driven chair and a spinning chair were installed in an anechoic room to provide linear and rotatory motion, respectively. The results revealed that the perceived sound position during linear self-motion was displaced compared with the physical sound position. This displacement was observed regardless of the self-motion direction and the inputted sensory information which induces self-motion. Such degradation of sound localization acuity was also observed when listeners were rotated; the detection thresholds for the listener’s subjective front were elevated during the motion. Here, we introduce the details of our study and discuss the characteristics of auditory space perception during self-motion. [Work supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant (26280067).]
Relative head angle and eye position drive systematic distortions in the perception of auditory space
Authors: Brimijoin W. Owen , Naylor Graham
Published: November 2016

The minimum audible movement angle (MAMA) increases as a function of azimuth. This study examined a potential consequence of this: if this change in resolution across azimuth is not perceptually compensated for it would suggest that a sound rotating at a constant angular velocity around the head would not appear to do so but would appear to move faster at the front than at the side. We therefore examined whether the azimuth of two signals affects their point of subjective similarity for motion. We found that equal movement from two different azimuths is not judged as being equivalent: signals centered at 90° must move at least twice as much as ones centered at 0° to be judged as moving the same amount. Signals centered at 45° were also perceived in a proportionally distorted manner. Furthermore, in some listeners, this expansion/contraction of auditory space appears to shift systematically with eye position. These interactions suggest that the MAMA may not be simply a measure of acuity, but also reflects an underlying head- and eye-driven nonlinear perceptual organization of space, one we term the “equivalent arc,” in which an absolute number of degrees does not correspond to a consistent perceptual unit across azimuth.
Multi-channel loudspeaker reproduction and virtual acoustic environments in the context of hearing aid evaluation
Authors: Grimm Giso , Ewert Stephan , Hohmann Volker
Published: November 2016

Virtual acoustic environments reproduced via multiple loudspeakers are increasingly used for evaluating hearing aids in complex acoustic conditions. To further establish the feasibility of this approach, this study investigated the interaction between spatial resolution of different reproduction methods and technical and perceptual hearing aid performance measures using computer simulations. Three spatial audio reproduction methods—discrete speakers, vector base amplitude panning and higher order ambisonics—were compared in regular circular loudspeaker arrays with 4 to 72 channels. The influence of reproduction method and array size on performance measures of multi-microphone hearing aid algorithm classes with spatially distributed microphones and a representative single channel noise-reduction algorithm was analyzed. In addition to the analysis of reproduction methods, algorithm performance was tested in a number of different virtual acoustic environments in order to assess the underlying factors of decreased hearing aid performance in complex environments. The results confirm previous findings that spatial complexity has a major impact on hearing aid benefit and demonstrate the potential of virtual acoustic environments for hearing aid evaluation.
Wave dispersion in randomly layered materials
Authors: Cieszko Mieczyslaw , Pakula Michal
Published: November 2016

Wave scattering in materials composed of two kinds of alternating layers with different elastic properties and randomly distributed thicknesses has been modeled. The general form of the dispersion equation is derived for the unbounded layered medium. It defines two basic macroscopic characteristics of the scattered wave: phase velocity and attenuation, which are explicit functions of wave frequency and microscopic parameters of the system: acoustic properties of the layers and stochastic characteristics of their thickness distributions. The analytical expressions are derived for three special cases: for long waves; for a periodic medium composed of layers with constant thicknesses and for random medium with uniform distribution of layer thicknesses. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the frequency dependence of the wave parameters. It was shown that the predictions of the model for long waves and for periodic medium are compatible with the results obtained in the literature. Moreover, comparison of theoretical results for frequency dependent wave parameters with numerical simulations of pulse transmission through the slab of the randomly layered medium shows good qualitative and quantitative agreement in wide frequency range.
Vibration analysis of high-speed rotating conical shell with arbitrary boundary conditions
Authors: Wang Jinzhao , Cao Yipeng , Lin Guang
Published: November 2016

Based on the energy method, an analytical model for the vibration characteristics of high speed rotating conical shell with arbitrary boundary is constructed. Effects of centrifugal and Coriolis accelerations as well as initial hoop tension due to rotating are all taken into account. A set of translational and rotational artificial springs to simulate the elastic constraints imposed on the conical shell edges. Under the framework, each of the displacement components of the conical shell is invariantly described by a modified Fourier series, which is composed of a standard Fourier series and closed-form auxiliary functions. All the expansion coefficients are determined by using the familiar Rayleigh-Ritz procedure as the generalized coordinates. To validate the present analysis, a series of comparisons between the present results and those available in the open literature are carried out and very good agreements are obtained. On this basis, some numerical results are given to illustrate the effects of rotating speed and geometric parameters on the frequencies of rotating conical shell. Further, the influence of the boundary springs’stiffness are also discussed.
Estimating mechanical properties of ice on Europa: Impact simulation and sensitivity analysis
Authors: Capozella Joshua , Pfaeffle Edward , Ferreira Fernandes Martin , Okutsu Masataka , Vignola Joseph , Turo Diego
Published: November 2016

The primary objective of NASA’s Europa Multiple Flyby Mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa is to determine the thickness of the ice covering the global subsurface ocean. If the ice proves too thick for the ice penetrating radar, however, an indirect method must be used to estimate the depth of the ice-water boundary. Unfortunately, the properties of Europan ice are not known precisely, with Young’s modulus having two orders of magnitude of uncertainty. It has been suggested that seismic response produced by an artificial impact could help estimating the mechanical properties of this ice. By optically measuring the induced surface motion with enough resolution, the dispersion curves can be determined. The associated elastic wave speeds are then used to estimate the moduli and density of the ice. The seismic response of the ice is modeled using a Finite Element Method solver. This presentation describes the sensitivity of the estimated mechanical properties to both temporal and spatial resolutions of the optical measurement. The sensitivities of the elastic constants to the temporal and spatial resolutions are analyzed by iterating the simulations at increasing time steps and finer meshes.
Study on the exactness of alternative indirect force estimation methods, power dissipation calculation by power or energy flow, and transfer path analysis for structure-borne sound
Authors: Inoue Akira , Tanabe Yosuke
Published: November 2016

In our presentation, it is first clarified that the matrix inverse method which gives interfacial forces using X/F-type frequency response functions among parallel interfacial points is an exact method derived from Newton’s equation of motion. The alternative method using F/X-type frequency response functions with blocked boundaries is next explained as another exact method, though implementation of the blocked boundary may be difficult for real-life systems. Next, as an application of interfacial force, it is shown that the real part of power flow and the imaginary part of energy flow correspond to mechanical power dissipation. When all the power or energy flows into a system are counted, it gives the exact power dissipation of the system. As another application, the exactness of transfer path analysis for structure-borne sound is examined with brief discussion of velocity potential. Computational demonstrations and validations are given for the derived formulas, using a simple finite element model. All the systems are supposed to be linear time-invariant, discretized and in a steady state.
Radiation of rail noise regarding surface impedance of ground by using wavenumber domain finite and boundary element
Authors: Ryue Jungsoo , Jang Seungho
Published: November 2016

An important source of noise from railways is rolling noise caused by wheel and rail vibrations induced by acoustic roughness at the wheel-rail contact. In conventional approaches to predicting rail noise, the rail is regarded as placed in a free space so that the reflection from the ground is not included. However, in order to predict rail noise close to the rail, the effect of the ground should be contained in the analysis. In this study the rail noise reflected from the ground is investigated using the wavenumber domain finite element and boundary element methods. First, two rail models, one using rail attached to the rigid ground and one using rail located above rigid ground, are considered and examined to determine the rigid ground effect in terms of the radiation efficiency. From this analysis, it was found that the two models give considerably different results, so that the distance between the rail and the ground is an important factor. Second, an impedance condition was set for the ground and the effect of the ground impedance on the rail noise was evaluated for the two rail models.
Modeling of multi-jointed structures by complex stiffness based on vibration transfer characteristics
Authors: Park Sangmok , Kwak Yunsang , Park Junhong
Published: November 2016

Complex stiffness representation is proposed to analyze the dynamic characteristics of jointed structures. Measured results for single-jointed specimens were compared with predictions to show the influence of connecting stiffness. The proposed dynamic stiffness representation showed accurate vibration transfer characteristics of the single-jointed structures. For multi-jointed structures, the developed prediction model was extended based on the results of single-jointed structures. For experimentations, multi-jointed specimens having different binding strength and various defected parts were produced. Vibration transfer characteristics were measured. In order to fully represent dynamic characteristics of multi-jointed specimens, the spectral element method was used for theoretical modeling. Complex stiffness allowed modeling of coupling effect by multiple joints. In aspect of wave propagation characteristics, the proposed model was verified by comparison with measured vibrations of the multi-jointed specimens. Locations of defects in specimens were theoretically predicted by the verified model. Binding strength of the multi-jointed structures was quantitatively evaluated using the complex stiffness.
You really can hear the corn grow! Acoustic emissions in the growth and breakage of maize
Authors: Cook Douglas
Published: November 2016

Corn (or maize) is the leading grain crop in the United States. More than 350 million metric tons are harvested annually, generating twice as much revenue as any other crop. But a lack of understanding of corn stalk mechanics now hinders further improvement of corn production. The most promising new varieties of corn produce high yields, but are often susceptible to wind-induced failure of the stalk. Failure of this kind is prevalent at two distinct periods: in mid-summer during rapid growth, and after physical maturity, but before harvest. This study utilized acoustic measurements to collect new information about corn growth and failure. Measurements during the growth period were conducted in July 2016 at fields in Nebraska. Late-season stalk experiments involved stalks harvested from South Africa. Flexible, shielded piezo film sensors were used in all measurements (SDT1-028K, Measurement Specialties, Hampton, VA). Acoustic emissions were found to occur continuously during corn stalk growth, though typically at levels far below those audible to the human ear. The authors hypothesize that special conditions would be required to render these emissions audible to humans. Acoustic emissions provided valuable information which used to determine modes of stalk failure in late season lodging.
Talking heads: communication, embodiment, and interaction
Authors: Rubin Philip
Published: November 2016

The desire to create robotic speech, including talking human heads, stems back at least several hundred years. This quest continues and presently combines approaches that are computational, cognitive, biological, mechanical, and acoustic, cutting across a wide variety of domains and interests. This presentation provides some highlights of the broad, international effort that includes speech robotics and social robotics, the historical antecedents of this effort, and considers aspects of embodiment and interaction between speakers. By talking heads, we mean models that produce audio-visual speech, either physically or on a computer screen, through the control of parameters derived from physiological, behavioral, or other sources. In addition to their use as scientific tools for exploring speech perception and production, and for simulating physiological systems under normal and adverse conditions, these models can be key components in the synthesis and manipulation of virtual personalities. Avatars in cyberspace environments, facially-realistic animated characters, and virtual personalities on our computer, videogame, video and movie screens, and mobile devices are becoming increasingly common. The realism of these simulations will depend, in part, on the incorporation of the relevant knowledge (including physiological, behavioral, and social) in the models of the wide varieties of cyber-entities that will inhabit our future.
Infant–caregiver interaction is essential for early vocal development
Authors: Asada Minoru
Published: November 2016

Vocal interactions between an infant and a caregiver facilitates early vocal development, and one of the issues is how an infant learns to vocalize the caregiver’s native language. Explanation of this ability of infant is attempted by many theories which advocate imitation based on acoustic matching. However, the infant's and caregiver's speech are quite different in their acoustic qualities. Therefore, it cannot be fully explained by imitation. In this talk, I assume that the interaction itself may have an important role to play, but the mechanism is still unclear. I review studies addressing this topic based on explicit interaction mechanisms using computer simulations and/or real vocal robots. Modeling approaches are classified into four categories: (a) motor control ability develops through self-monitoring of vocalizations, (b) statistical estimation of caregiver’s vowel categories from caregiver’s vocalizations, (c) self-organization of shared vowels through imitative interaction, and (d) whole dynamics of interactions. The relationships between them are analyzed after a brief review of the early development of an infant’s speech perception and articulation based on observational studies in developmental psychology and a few neuroscientific imaging studies. Finally, future issues related to real infant-caregiver vocal interaction are outlined.
The clockwork music of speech: Gestural synthesis in 18th and 19th century speaking machines
Authors: Ramsay Gordon
Published: November 2016

Gestural theories of phonology developed in the latter half of the 20th century have proposed that intrinsically timed sequences of linguistically significant actions of the vocal tract are the natural embodiment of speech, in stark contrast to earlier theories that emphasized the role of pure acoustic, auditory or articulatory representations in speech production and perception. Although these recent theories apparently represent a significant change in viewpoint, and have been highly influential, it has been largely forgotten that most of these ideas can actually be traced back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when they were the dominant perspective. Remarkably, early attempts to create speaking robots considered from the outset, and endeavoured to replicate, not only the physics of sound production in realistic vocal tract geometries, but also the sequencing of those geometries over time. This presentation traces the prehistory of gestural synthesis by using unpublished historical documents to analyze the mechanisms used to create the Abbé Mical's Talking Heads, the first programmable speech synthesizer producing the first conversation between machines, and Joseph Faber's Euphonia, the first mechanical synthesizer to transduce timed sequences of symbols into speech. Both of these mechanisms have direct implications for creating 21st century speaking robots.
Real-time time difference of arrival estimation for moving wideband sources
Authors: Sedunov Alexander
Published: November 2016

The modified generalized cross-correlation method is used for finding the time difference of arrival (TDOA) and resolving the angle of arrival toward moving targets in real-time. It addresses the decorrelation due to differential Doppler effect leading to relative time companding (RTC) between sensors. The proposed method efficiently approximates the RTC prior to the computation of cross-correlation, thus working faster than methods using maximization of the passive ambiguity function and other approximation methods. The algorithm is based on computing the spectrum of deskewed short-time cross-correlator (DSTC) in the frequency domain by averaging a short-term spectrogram computed on overlapped segments of analysis in a time window. The same spectrogram is used to compute magnitude-squared coherence (MSC), then by maximizing the average MSC in the band of interest, the RTC is found. It is used to compute a single inverse Fourier transform. This method is applied to data collected by the Acoustic Aircraft Detection system that was developed at Stevens and that comprises of a volumetric 5-microphone cluster connected to a data acquisition and an embedded computer that processes the data in real-time. Examples demonstrate the improved TDOA finding for aircraft within an airport at a larger distance by using longer analysis time window and maintenance of tracking at close range, thanks to the RTC compensation. [This work was supported by DHS’s S&T Directorate.]
Time delay estimation in the presence of source or receiver motion
Authors: Ferguson Brian G. , Lo Kam W.
Published: November 2016

Generalized cross-correlation of the outputs of two spatially-separated sensors provides an estimate of the time delay (or differential time of arrival) of a broadband acoustic signal at the pair of sensors. The time lag at which the cross-correlation function attains its maximum value corresponds to the time delay. However, if relative motion between the source and the sensors leads to the time scales of the received signals being mismatched, then the time delay will be in error. This mismatch in the time scales is also referred to as the differential Doppler effect. Two practical examples are presented that demonstrate this effect, which is observed when a jet aircraft transits over and along the axis of two widely-spaced microphones or a scuba diver travels past two spatially separated hydrophones. It is shown that the correct time delay and relative time scale can be obtained by implementing wideband cross-correlation with differential Doppler compensation using the continuous wavelet transform. The continuous wavelet transform has the same functional form as the more familiar wideband cross-ambiguity function.
Acoustic distance measurement based on phase interference between transmitted and reflected waves
Authors: Nakayama Masato , Nishiura Takanobu , Nakasako Noboru
Published: November 2016

The distance to talkers and objects is very important information for both hands-free speech interfaces and nursing-care robots. However, conventional distance measurement methods cannot measure short distances because the transmitted wave, which has not attenuated sufficiently by the time the reflected waves are received, suppresses the reflected waves for short distances. Therefore, we have proposed an acoustic distance measurement (ADM) method based on interference between the transmitted and reflected waves, which can measure distance even in a short range. In this presentation, we explain principle of the ADM method, and various studies. In the proposed method, the arbitrary audible sound with wideband is emitted as the transmitted wave with a loudspeaker, and the transmitted wave is recorded with a microphone. Thus, we can estimate the distance to a target with single loudspeaker and single microphone. Also, the localization of a target can be achieved using single loudspeaker and multiple microphones on basis of the acoustic imaging with microphone-array. In addition, we have improved the ADM method in order to estimate the target distance in noisy environments. Finally, we confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method through experiments in real environments.
Self-shape estimation algorithm for a flexible ultrasonic array probe
Authors: Nakajima Yoshiaki , Matsui Kazuhiro , Azuma Takashi , Kobayashi Etsuko , Sakuma Ichiro
Published: November 2016

A self-shape estimation algorithm for a flexible ultrasonic array probe was described in the paper. Position information of each element in the array is essentially required to achieve a focal control in ultrasonic imaging process. The purpose of this study is to develop an algorithm to estimate array shape without other sensors. In our proposed algorithm, beam image (BI) was used as an evaluation function in the estimation of the shape. BI is an image representing a transmitted beam profile in the imaging object. BI was obtained by scanning of receive focal points around the transmit focal point. The quality factor of BI was used as an evaluation function and parameters describing assumed shapes were searched. We conducted simulation and gel experiments with commercially available flexible probe unit. The algorithm was evaluated by the quality of an estimated self-shape and reconstructed images using an estimated self-shape. The theoretical lateral and depth resolutions were 0.5~1mm and 0.3mm in light of transmitted beam profile. The algorithm could have estimated free curve shapes in error by less than 1mm and the sizes of imaged wires were 0.74~1.5 mm and 0.625~1.25 mm in lateral and depth direction.
Challenges and opportunities in spoken document processing: Examples from keyword search and the use of prosody
Authors: Rosenberg Andrew
Published: November 2016

Spoken document processing presents challenges and opportunities when compared to text processing. Speech transcription contains errors, but speech conveys information beyond the words that are said. To deal with errors, a spoken document should be viewed as a structure of viable hypotheses not an absolute transcription. Also, the manner in which words are spoken, their prosody, can be mined for information about the speaker and his or her intent. This talk will use keyword search as an case study that requires operating under errorful and adverse conditions. It will focus on the efforts of the IBM-led LORELEI Consortium during the IARPA BABEL program over the last four and a half years. This period has been a time of rapid change in automatic speech recognition, and the BABEL program has served as a proving ground for a number of innovations including DNNs for acoustic modeling, multi-lingual acoustic features, graphemic (vs. phonemic) recognition, active learning (and reduced resource conditions), morphological analysis, and so-called “end-to-end” speech recognition. The talk will then present areas of opportunity to leverage information communicated via prosody to improve spoken document processing including emotion recognition, dialog act classification, and information extraction on spoken documents.
The role of consonants in the perception of vocal attractiveness
Authors: Blamire Emily
Published: November 2016

Research on vocal attractiveness has identified several acoustic cues intrinsic to vowels (e.g., pitch) that affect judgements of attractiveness and have shown listeners generally agree in their ratings (e.g., Babel, McGuire, & King 2014). Research in this area has, however, been largely limited to an examination of vowels. The current study builds on past work by examining an array of acoustic cues intrinsic to consonants to ascertain how they affect judgements of vocal attractiveness. Two native speakers of Canadian English were recorded saying one-syllable words of the form sCVC or p/t/kVC. The acoustic cues of center of gravity and duration of /s/ and voice onset time of /p/, /t/, and /k/ were manipulated to both increase and decrease the value of each cue. Vowel pitch was also included in the analysis as a baseline for comparison with past research. Participants listened to the original and manipulated tokens and were asked to judge vocal attractiveness using a 7-point Likert scale. The data of 32 people (female, N = 16) aged 19-32 were analyzed, using mixed effects models. The most interesting finding of the current study was that while not all acoustic cues of consonants played a role in perceptions of vocal attractiveness, /s/ duration did, and for this cue both the speaker and listener sex were important to how the cue was perceived. This suggests that not only are male and female voices judged by different standards as to what is attractive, but that men and women are using different criteria when making these judgements.
The North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory deep-water ocean acoustics experiments in the Philippine Sea: A review
Authors: Worcester Peter F.
Published: November 2016

A series of experiments with participants from many institutions investigated deep-water ocean acoustics in the oceanographically and geologically complex Philippine Sea during 2009-2011. These experiments employed various configurations of a newly developed distributed vertical line array (DVLA) receiver. The time fronts recorded on the DVLAs for transmissions from a variety of acoustic sources, both moored and lowered form shipboard, provide a rich data set on acoustic scattering and variability due to internal waves, internal tides, density-compensated temperature and salinity variations (spice), oceanic fronts, eddies, and bottom interaction. During 2010-2011, a water-column-spanning DVLA was embedded within an ocean acoustic tomography array of six transceivers, enabling the observation of acoustic time fronts and measurement of ambient noise over a 5000-m aperture. The observed travel-time time series were similar to time series computed from ocean state estimates made using an eddy-permitting regional ocean model constrained by non-acoustic data, and the travel-time differences have in turn been successfully used to further constrain the model. Acoustic Seagliders also recorded the tomographic transmissions, and the travel times have been used to test the feasibility and accuracy of long-range acoustic navigation (Underwater GPS). Analyses of the data sets collected during the NPAL Philippine Sea experiments are continuing.