Application of vocal tract shapes to vowel production

A device is presented which can be used by the hearing-impaired to aid in vowel production. The device generates a visual display of the tongue shape for a vowel utterance which can be compared with a reference shape for the given vowel. The analysis software is implemented on a dedicated system built around the Texas TMS 32020 digital signal processing chip, which makes real-time operation possible. Results from previous work with a non-real-time implementation of this system indicate that subjects show increased accuracy and consistency of their vowel production, and informal observations show that a modicum of carry-over is achieved.<>