A Comprehensive Review of Forensic Phonetics Techniques

Abstract

Forensics refers to scientific investigations of criminal activities. In the digital forensic domain, phonetics is gaining attention from researchers. In the past, it was not as highlighted as images or videos. Considering the importance of voice as a powerful means of communication in the digital world, it has become an interesting topic for research. For instance, speaker identity verification is crucial in banks, multimedia, and biometrics. However, voice can be easily tampered with or disguised, creating social panic or affecting the speaker’s identity. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of voice modification in speaker identification, making a valuable contribution to criminal investigations. It covers various topics, including voice disguise methods, analysis techniques used to detect disguises and forensic approaches for solving criminal cases in phonetics. The paper aims to understand these interrelated fields better and identify potential avenues for future research and development. It achieves this by providing a detailed review of the methodology used to identify disguised voices in forensic investigations and presenting a tabular overview of the developments in this area over the years.