International Business Machines Corporation

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Robert Bruce Mahaffey

Catherine Keefauver Laws

Joseph David Aaron

Branimir Konstantinov Boguraev

Mary Susan Neff

Peter Thomas Brunet

Paul S Luther

Jani Gabriel Byrne

Thomas Guthrie Zimmerman

Richard Scott Schwerdtfeger

Lawrence Frank Weiss

Frederik C Kjeldsen

Frederik C M Kjeldsen

Frederik Carl Moesgaard Kjeldsen

Carlos Victor Pinera

Paula Kwit

Frances Ann Hayden

Recep Ismail Haritaoglu

The present invention is a user interface for varying accessibility parameters to match comprehension needs. The present invention consists of a uniform, easy to use, interface to applications. Rather than dealing directly with the user interface parameters of a particular application, the user interacts with this uniform interface, or UI aggregator. The UI aggregator can then transform the information presented by the particular application or combination of applications as desired by the user. The UI aggregator can be accessed through a variety of modes&#x2014;keyboard, speech, touch, and gestures. Through interaction with the UI aggregator, the user can create and select user profiles that control multiple software applications.

Uniform user interface for software applications

The present invention provides for analyzing document content for display with reduced cognitive load assists those who are blind, have low vision, or cognitive problems. This present invention also aids those who prefer to receive condensed information orally. Document content is analyzed, a set of salient words and phrases are generated from the document content and the set of salient words and phrases are read.

Document content analysis technology for reducing cognitive load

The present invention provides for processing voice data. The vocalic of at least one word associated with the electronic voice signal is elongated. The magnitude of at least one consonant spike of the at least one word associated with the electronic voice signal is increased. Through the emphasis of the consonants, intelligibility of speech is increased.

Speech enhancement for electronic voiced messages

The present invention provides for visual enhancement of text. A text area is selected. A plurality of non-identical images of the text area are captured. Background information is removed from these images. The contrast characteristics of text area of the plurality of images are increased. The contrasted images are combined so as to increase their effective resolution. In an alternative embodiment, the text picture is broken up into a plurality of component colors, and these colors are then sharpened and recombined.

Visual enhancement for reduction of visual noise in a text field

The present invention provides for analyzing document content for display with reduced cognitive load, and assists those who are blind, have low vision, or have cognitive problems. This present invention also aids those who prefer to receive condensed information orally. Document content is analyzed, a set of salient words and phrases are generated from the document content, the salient words and phrases are tagged, and the set of salient words and phrases are read.

A system and method are described for selectively providing display data to a display device dependent upon an optically detected proximity of a user's face to a camera. One embodiment of a computer system includes the camera, the display device, and a processing system. The camera produces image signals representing a first image and a second image of the user's face, wherein the first image precedes the second image in time. The processing system receives the image signals and analyzes the first and second images to determine the proximity of the user's face to the camera. More specifically, the processing system compares the first and second images to determine the proximity of the user's face to the camera in the second image relative to the proximity of the user's face in the first image. The processing system provides the display data to the display device dependent upon the proximity of the user's face to the camera. In order to determine the proximity of the user's face to the camera, the processing system may compare: (i) a size of the user's face in the first and second images, and/or (ii) a distance between selected facial features of the user in the first and second images. The processing system may provide more of the display data to the display device when the user's face is closer to the camera, and may provide less of the display data to the display device when the user's face is farther from the camera.

Computer system providing hands free user input via optical means for navigation or zooming

A data processing system collects video and audio samples of acceptable speech production. A video camera focuses on a speaker's face and, particularly, articulation visible in the area of the mouth or other body movements associated with speech production. Video files are used to archive acceptable and unacceptable productions. These files may then be used to provide feedback about acceptable and unacceptable ways to produce speech. A speech professional or language teacher may play a model speech production and a subject speech attempt simultaneously to compare articulation, audio analysis, and appearance of articulators. A subject may play a model speech production and record a speech attempt simultaneously to attempt to mimic the appearance of articulators. Image processing may be used to create a mirror image of a video model or a current attempt or both to avoid left-right confusion.

Method and apparatus for providing visual feedback of speed production

A note facility which documents the progress of a student in producing human speech. The facility stores a set of notes in a note file in a computer memory. Each of the set of notes contains textual information generally descriptive of the human speech produced at a given time during the training. A set of speech samples is also stored and attached to selected ones of the set of notes. Each of the speech samples is a digitized version of the human speech produced. The facility analyzes the human speech produced at least one of the given times to produce speech statistics which are presented to the user interface. The speech statistics can be stored in a note and the statistics note attached to the set of notes containing the descriptive text. Navigation through the note file can review each of the notes for the subjective opinion of the student's progress, statistics of an objective acoustic analysis of the speech and listen to the speech file on which the opinion is based. The facility creates reports by allowing the user to select particular notes within the set of notes for inclusion in the report. When the report function is invoked, the selected notes are incorporated within the report.

Computer note facility for documenting speech training

Selecting human speech samples for a speech model of human speech is preformed. The system presents a graphic representing a human speech sample on a computer display, e.g., an amplitude vs. time graph of the speech sample. Through user input, the system marks a segment of the graphic. The marked segment of the graphic represents a portion of the human speech sample. The system plays the portion of the human speech sample represented by the marked segment back to the user to allow the user to determine its acceptability for inclusion in the speech model. If so indicated by the user, the portion of the human speech sample represented by the marked segment is selected for inclusion in the speech model. The system also analyzes the portion of the human speech sample represented by the marked segment for acoustic properties. These properties are presented to the user in a graphic of the analyzed portion representative of the acoustic properties, e.g., a spectral analysis of the sample graphed as a set of spectral lines. Thus, the user can select the analyzed portion for inclusion in the speech model due to the presence of desired acoustic properties in the analyzed portion.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Robert Bruce Mahaffey