Title: Feature evaluation for recognition of unspoken small vocabulary using facial EMG

Authors: Richa Sharma; Dinesh Bhatia; Surender Dahiya; Deepak Joshi

Addresses: Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), University of Delhi, Delhi, Dwarka Sector-3, Delhi – 110078, India. ' Adaptive Neural Systems Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, 1247-ARC, 10555 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida-33174, USA. ' Department of Electrical Engineering, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, Sonepat (Haryana), Haryana-131039, India. ' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS), 4 Engineering Drive 3, 117576 Singapore

Abstract: This paper presents a novel technique for feature evaluation of some common vocabulary terms employed during the process of speech without producing audio signals using facial EMG. This paper aims to present an effective mechanism to measure the relative activity of the facial muscles related to speech production for person's suffering from speech-related disabilities. The features were extracted from raw EMG signals of four important facial muscles (zygomaticus major, orbicularis oris inferior, levator labii superioris, anterior belly of diagastric) using root mean square (RMS) values for both genders. These values presented the relative activity of the four chosen muscles showing significant changes only in orbicularis oris inferior (OOI) muscle both in males and females during the process of speech production. Further, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used to validate this hypothesis and verify the results obtained. From these results, it may concluded that this muscle is the most active and useful in the speech production. This evaluation will be very helpful in designing speech prosthesis for the people with speech disabilities in near future.

Keywords: electromyography; facial EMG; speech recognition; speech prosthesis; feature extraction; fast Fourier transform; FFT; feature evaluation; facial muscles; speech production; speech disabilities; orbicularis oris inferior; OOI.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBBR.2012.049591

International Journal of Biomechatronics and Biomedical Robotics, 2012 Vol.2 No.1, pp.32 - 38

Published online: 27 Aug 2014 *

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