Personal computer software vowel training aid for the hearing impaired

A vowel training aid system for hearing impaired persons which uses a Windows-based multimedia computer has been developed. The system provides two main displays which give visual feedback for vowels spoken in isolation and short word contexts. Feature extraction methods and neural network processing techniques provide a high degree of accuracy for speaker independent vowel training. The system typically provides correct classification of over 85% of steady state vowels spoken by adult male, adult female and child (both genders combined) speakers. Similar classification accuracy is also observed for vowels spoken in short words. Low cost and good performance make this system potentially useful for speech training at home.