Logo: University of Southern California

Events Calendar


  • Detecting paralinguistic information from speech and language for clinical applications: Algorithms and information limits

    Wed, Mar 01, 2017 @ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars


    Speaker: Visar Berisha, Arizona State University

    Talk Title: Detecting paralinguistic information from speech and language for clinical applications: Algorithms and information limits

    Abstract: The ability to share our thoughts and ideas through spoken
    communication is fragile. Even the simplest verbal response requires a
    complex sequence of events. It requires thinking of the words that best
    convey your message; sequencing these words appropriately; and then
    sending signals to the muscles required to produce speech. The slightest
    damage to the brain areas that orchestrate these events can manifest in
    speech and language problems. These disturbances offer a window into
    brain functioning. In the first part of this presentation, I will
    present an overview of a number of projects where we use interpretable
    measures of speech and language production as proxies for cognitive and
    motor health. The algorithms behind this work have practical utility in
    clinical applications and can help answer basic research questions
    related to dysarthric speech production.

    In the second part of the talk, I will discuss new results from
    non-parametric statistical signal processing that allow us to
    characterize the information limits in speech. In contrast to existing
    methods based on machine learning, this work provides a framework to
    answer fundamental questions such as 'What are the bounds on how well I
    can recover a parameter of interest from speech?' or 'How well should an
    optimally trained classifier work for a particular application?'

    Biography: Visar Berisha is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State
    University with a joint appointment in the School of Electrical Computer
    and Energy Engineering and the Department of Speech and Hearing Science.
    Prior to joining ASU, Berisha was a research scientist at MIT Lincoln
    Laboratory and then Principal Research Engineer for a Fortune 500
    company. His research interests include speech analytics, statistical
    signal processing, and information theory. Much of his recent work spans
    all three of these fields to answer basic questions related to the
    limits of information in speech. His research has led to many academic
    publications, several licensed patents, and a revenue-positive startup
    company. Berisha's work has been featured in the Science section of the
    New York Times, on National Public Radio, and a number of other national
    media outlets.

    Host: Shrikanth Narayanan

    Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

    Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

    Contact: Tanya Acevedo-Lam/EE-Systems

    Add to Google CalendarDownload ICS File for OutlookDownload iCal File

Return to Calendar