Comparison of two methods of voice activity detection in field studies.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and compare the performance of 2 methods of voice activity detection (neck-attached accelerometer vs. binaural recordings) in field studies in environments where voice activity normally occurs.


METHODS
A group of 11 healthy adults wore recording equipment during their lunch break. We used binary classification to analyze the results from the 2 methods. The output was compared to a gold standard, obtained through listening tests, and the probability for sensitivity (Ps) and false positive (Pf) was rated. The binary classifiers were set for consistent sensitivity of 99%; thus, the lower false positive rate would indicate the method with the better performance.


RESULTS
The neck-attached accelerometer (Pf = 0.5%) performed significantly (p < .001) better than the binaural method (Pf = 7%).


CONCLUSIONS
The neck-attached accelerometer is more suitable than the binaural method for voice assessments in environments where people are speaking in close proximity to each other and where the signal-to-noise ratio is moderate to low.
Lindstrom
Fredric
F
University of Gothenburg, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Box 414, Gothenburg SE-405 30, Sweden. fredric.lindstrom@amm.gu.se
Ren
Keni
K
Li
Haibo
H
Waye
Kerstin Persson
KP
D004423:Ear; D004581:Electronics / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck; D009622:Noise; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013060:Speech; D014732:Vibration; D014831:Voice