Structure, Movement, Sound, and Perception

Models that take the form of artificial talkers and speech synthesis systems have long been used as a means of understanding both speech production and speech perception. The article begins with a brief history of two artificial speaking devices that exemplify the representation of speech production as a system of modulations. The development of a recent airway modulation model is then described that simulates the time-varying changes of the vocal tract and acoustic wave propagation. The result is a type of artificial talker that can be used to study various aspects of how sound is generated by humans and how that sound is perceived by a listener.