title: FFT-based digital tactile vocoder system for real-time use.
abstract: A microprocessor-based real-time digital vibrotactile vocoder system has been developed to train the deaf and for artificial hearing research. The system is composed of a microcomputer module with a digital signal processor, interface units and an attenuator/driver circuit. Live or digitised (stored or synthetic) speech is presented to the skin spectrally through a belt housing eight or 16 vibrators. Speech is processed in real time using a fast Fourier transform. The system is also capable of presenting any arbitrary spatiotemporal pattern on the skin for artificial hearing experiments. A preliminary experiment with a deaf subject indicates that the system is potentially an effective device for artificial hearing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Florida 33124.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozdamar
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Oller
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Eilers
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miskiel
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006801:Humans; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted