Patent ID: 7054817

Claim:
Apparatus for generating and testing speech models, said apparatus comprising: a data collection unit operable to collect utterance data indicative of the pronunciation of words; an utterance store operable to store utterance data collected by said data collection unit, said utterance store being configured to associate each item of stored utterance data with speaker data identifying the speaker from whom said utterance data was collected and word data identifying the words items of utterance data represent; a speech model generation unit operable to receive user input identifying a user selection comprising a plurality of items of speaker data and one or more items of word data and responsive to receipt of user input to generate speech models of words utilizing utterance data stored in said utterance store associated with speaker data and word data corresponding to the input selection of speaker data and word data; and a testing unit operable to test the accuracy of the matching of utterances collected by said data collection unit to speech models generated by said speech model generation unit utilizing utterance data stored in said utterance store associated with speaker data and word data corresponding to an input selection of speaker data and word data and to generate a visual display of the results of said testing by said testing unit.