Kevin R Butler

Title: Kevin R Butler: Innovator in Acoustic Technology

Introduction

Kevin R Butler is a prominent inventor based in Gainesville, FL (US). He has made significant contributions to the field of acoustic technology, holding a total of 7 patents. His work focuses on innovative methods for detecting and analyzing sound, particularly in the context of modern technology.

Latest Patents

One of Butler's latest patents is titled "Acoustic eavesdropping using a smartphone camera." This invention explores how the rolling shutter and movable lens structures commonly found in smartphone cameras can inadvertently modulate structure-borne sounds onto camera images. This creates a point-of-view optical-acoustic side channel for acoustic eavesdropping. The movement of smartphone camera hardware can leak acoustic information, as images unwittingly modulate ambient sound into imperceptible distortions. Experiments have shown that this side channel is amplified by the intrinsic behaviors of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) rolling shutters and movable lenses, such as those used in optical image stabilization (OIS) and auto focus (AF). This patent characterizes the limits of acoustic information leakage caused by structure-borne sound that perturbs the point-of-view of smartphone cameras. Unlike traditional optical-acoustic eavesdropping, this method does not require a line of sight or an object within the camera's field of view.

Another notable patent by Butler is "Detecting deep-fake audio through vocal tract reconstruction." This method identifies synthetic 'deep-fake' audio samples compared to organic audio samples. The process includes generating a model of a vocal tract using organic audio samples from a user, identifying bigram-feature pairs from these samples, and estimating the cross-sectional area of the user's vocal tract while speaking. By analyzing a candidate audio sample and comparing its features to the established model, the method can identify whether the audio is a deep-fake based on discrepancies in the vocal tract's cross-sectional area.

Career Highlights

Throughout his career, Kevin R Butler has worked with esteemed institutions such as the University of Florida Research Foundation and the University of Michigan. His research and innovations have significantly impacted the field of acoustic technology.

Collaborations

Butler has collaborated with notable colleagues, including Patrick G Traynor and Walter N Scaife. Their combined expertise has contributed to advancements in the understanding and application of acoustic technologies.

Conclusion