2009 MRes projects
- Speech enhancement using the binary mask method and its application to law enforcement
- Can crime science tools help tackle internal child sex trafficking in the UK?
- Assessing and improving whole body scanners through public involvement
- Beyond primary transfer: The secondary transfer of geoforensic trace particulates and their dissemination within social networks
- Use of a mirror-symmetry prior in small vehicle imaging
- Predicting the position of the source of blood stains for angled impacts on fabrics and exploring the effects of surface roughness on stain characteristics
- Attention to detail predicts threat detection performance in security X-ray images
- Small vehicle inspection scanner imaging: SVXi
- An evaluation of CCTV monitoring strategies for hospital security
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Speech enhancement using the binary mask method and its application to law enforcement
18 January 2011
Toby Davies
This work presents an analysis of the recently-proposed 'binary mask' technique for the enhancement of intelligibility of speech in noise, with a view to its deployment as a forensic tool within law enforcement, an area for which machine-learning algorithms are feasible. Computational analysis of the algorithm and its variants is carried out with a view to increasing understanding an optimisation of key parameters, and this is followed by intelligibility testing with human listeners.
In both cases the performance of previous work is not achieved, with significant deterioration of intelligibility instead being shown. Other factors, however, such as alternative mask definition and use of data smoothing, are seen to have intriguing effects on both pattern classification performance and intelligibility. Analysis of the technique from a legal perspective is also provided, focussing on the potential admissibility of such a technique in court and the requirements for legal validation as a forensic tool.
