The Effect of Helicopter Vibration on the Accuracy of a Voice Recognition System

Speech recognition technology could be especially advantageous to single-crewmember helicopters like the Light Helicopter Family (LHX). Before speech recognition can be considered a viable technology for helicopters, several issues remain to be resolved. One of these is changes in the voice that occur as a result of stress, noise, and vibration. This paper reports the results of an investigation conducted to determine the effect of vibration-induced changes in the voice on the accuracy of a speech recognition system. A series of flight tests were conducted using 12 participants and 8 different flight maneuvers. Data were collected with the participant speaking 50 phonetically balanced words into the speech recognizer while seated in the copilot's seat of a UH-1H helicopter during each of the 8 flight maneuvers. The results indicate that speech recognition system accuracy is not affected by helicopter vibration.