SpeakerPool: A remote speech data collection platform

Abstract

The collection of speech production data for academic use has traditionally been carried out by recording participants in-person. While certain types of research require traditional data collection methods, many factors, such as distance and world events, make remote collection a valuable alternative for other types of research. Despite the existence of capable technologies and the advantages of remote collection methods, to the authors' knowledge there is no freely accessible, reusable, and research-oriented platform for the remote collection of speech production data. We aim to address this with SpeakerPool: a web application that, in addition to providing an easy-to-use recording interface for participants, has built-in functionalities for the automation of many tasks. Users are able to access SpeakerPool regardless of platform using modern web browsers on both mobile and non-mobile devices. This greatly reduces compatibility limitations and bypasses the need to download software. In the present study, we discuss the general advantages and disadvantages of remote speech data collection and investigate the usefulness of SpeakerPool by collecting and analyzing a pilot data set of Malagasy speech.