Towards automatic recognition of emotion in speech

This paper discusses an approach towards automatic recognition of emotion in speech using computer. First, a design for the emotion recognizer is proposed. LP analysis algorithm has been used for the speech emotion parameter extraction. A total of 22 speech features have been selected to represent each emotion. A database consisting of emotional Malay and English voice samples has been developed for training and recognition purposes. Fuzzy concept has been applied to recognize emotion of the selected voice sample. The result from computer recognition is compared to the human recognition rate to confirm the reliability of the result and also to explore how well people and computer can recognize emotion in speech. It is found that computer recognition of emotion is possible and the average recognition rate of 66% is satisfactory based on the comparison from the human perception. According to the confusion matrix table for both human and computer recognition, it is shown that the way human interprets emotion is different from computer.