Changes in speech and breathing rate while speaking and biking

Abstract

Speech communication is embedded in many daily activities. In this paper we investigate the effect of biking on respiratory and speech parameters. Breathing and speech production were recorded in eleven subjects while speaking alone and while speaking and biking with different rates. Breathing frequency, speaking rate, speech and pause intervals, overall intensity and f0 were analyzed for the different tasks. It was hypothesized that cyclical motion increases breathing frequency, which leads to a restructuring of speech and pause intervals or an increase in speech rate. Our results generally confirm these predictions and are of relevance for applied sciences.