Something to Talk About: Signal Processing in Speech and Audiology Research: Promising Investigations Explore New Opportunities in Human Communication [Special Reports]

Speech, the expression of thoughts and feelings by articulating sounds, is an ability so taken for granted that few people bother to think about how complex and nuanced the process actually is. Yet, as more devices gain the ability to listen to and interpret what speakers are saying, speech and audiology technologies are attracting the interest of a growing number of academic researchers. Signal processing is now playing a critical role in making speech detection and recognition more accurate, flexible, and reliable for use in a wide range of research and everyday applications. Singing mice Vocalization plays a critical role in social communication across many species. Male mice, for example, generate ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) in the presence of females. Both male and female mice “sing” during friendly social encounters.