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Fusing Array Microphone and Stereo
Vision for Improved Computer Interfaces
January 1, 2005
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Download Document
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BibTex
Authors

Zhengyou Zhang

John Hershey
Publication Type
TechReport
Number
MSR-TR-2005-174

Abstract
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Related Info
Abstract
We describe how computer vision may be used in combination with an array microphone to
improve speech recognition accuracy in the context of noise. Speech recognition systems are
notoriously susceptible to interfering noise, especially when it is unwanted speech. A
microphone array by itself can improve speech recognition accuracy significantly over a fixed
microphone for computer users that cannot or prefer not to wear a headset. The improvement is
accomplished by steering a beam of sensitivity toward the loudest sound and using the
directional sensitivity of the array to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the source. However, in
a noisy environment, the loudest sound is not always the intended source, and unintended noise
and speech will be picked up. Even when the beam is focused on the user, loud background noise
and conversations not directed toward the computer still corrupt speech recognition. To
overcome these problems we propose to use computer vision to help determine the location of
the user, and infer whether he is talking to the computer. This information can be used to focus
the microphone array beam on the user, filter out background noise not coming from the user,
and suppress conversations not intended for the computer.
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 Computer vision
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 Microsoft Research Lab - Redmond
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