Synthetic Vocal Tracts - A Review

Abstract

Synthetic vocal tracts are gadgets powered by a computer system capable of translating the brain activity into synthesized speech, by decoding the movements of muscles involved in vocalization, using advanced computer programming. New standardized method for the development of synthetic vocal tract is the 3D vocal tract model with the binary conversion. Few of the typical features considered while creating the synthetic vocal tract are fundamental frequency, perturbation measure, jitter and change in pitch. The tissue engineered larynx is the promising development in synthetic vocal tract treatment in case of patients with vocal fold repair and regeneration. The future of this interesting technology lies in using high speed video endoscopy based synthetic vocal cords. The review was done based on the articles obtained from various platforms. This review article elaborates about the principle of synthetic vocal tract. Quality of the article used was assessed using a quality assessment tool and graded as strong, moderate and weak. The aim of this study is to understand the concept of synthetic vocal tract and its significance. Synthetic vocal tract is a recently established biomedical tool that has come as a boon in treating patients with severe disabilities. Speech synthesis is evolving as a viable solution as more research is being carried out on this. To understand the full significance of this crucial technique, more research has to be carried out on this field of biomedical engineering and viable solutions need to be developed, so that this novel technique is fully utilized.