Description ~
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a technique adapted to
generate in a subject being treated different emotions which he
expresses tactilely by applying finger pressure to a
pressure-sensitive transducer, and more particularly to a system
which includes the transducer and a computer responsive thereto
for carrying out this technique, the computer being programmed
to sequentially select from its memory each word in a set of
words representing different emotions and to reproduce the
selected word so that it can be heard by the subject who then,
when commanded to do so by a series of time-spaced audible start
clicks, applies finger pressure to the transducer whose output
signals are processed in the computer to develop on its display
terminal a sentogram, the shape of which characterizes the
emotion expressed by the subject.
2. Status of Prior Art
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,652 (Clynes), entitled "Programmed
System for Evoking Emotional Responses," discloses a system
adapted to internally generate in a subject different emotional
states in a programmed manner. By going through a timed sequence
of these states in the course of a sentic cycle during which the
subject applies finger pressure to a pressure-sensitive
transducer in a manner expressing the emotion he then feels, the
subject's ability to freely express emotion and overcome
inhibitive and repressive tendencies is enhanced.
In my prior system, the programmer takes the form of a magnetic
tape cassette player which reproduces at timed intervals in the
course of a sentic cycle a sequence of words each donating a
specific generalized emotion, such as love, hate, anger or
grief. Every presented word is followed by a series of
time-spaced audible start clicks commanding the subject, upon
hearing each click, to express the denoted emotion by pressing
with a finger the actuator element of the transducer in a manner
which expresses this emotion. This transducer which senses
vector components of the applied finger pressure yields output
signals which are applied to a TV monitor on whose screen is
displayed in real time the transient pattern or sentic shape of
the subject's tactile expression of a particular emotion.
A similar system is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,922
(Clynes) entitled "System for Producing Personalized
Sentograms." In this system, the programmer is also a magnetic
tape cassette player, but instead of presenting a sequence of
words representing different generalized emotions, presented in
sequence are words, each identifying an individual with whom the
subject has a close relationship or about whom the subject has a
distinct feeling.
In the system disclosed in my '922 patent, the transducer is
coupled not only to a TV monitor as in the '652 patent, but also
to an averaging device whose output represents the average of
ten responses or whatever number of click-started responses is
sensed for each announced name generating an emotional response.
The averaged sentic shape is then recorded to produce a
personalized sentogram for each name.
As pointed out in my '922 patent, the collection of
personalized sentograms developed by the subject in response to
a series of names is useful in characterizing his condition.
Each personalized sentogram may be analyzed in the light of
sentograms representing abstract, generalized emotions. For
example, if the personalized sentogram for "father" is quite
similar in its essentic form to an abstract sentogram for
"love," clearly the subject feels love for his father. But in
other instances, the personalized sentograms may exhibit
compound effects, such as fear-awe or hate-anger, in which event
one finds in the personalized sentograms hybrid forms of the
abstract sentograms. The collection of personalized sentograms
therefore lends itself to analysis to provide a personality
relationship profile of the subject.
My above-identified copending application discloses a
self-sufficient sentic cycler unit which dispenses with the need
for a magnetic tape player as the programmer. The unit includes
a solid-state memory having digitally stored therein a set of
words representing different emotions, as well as a click or
other command signal instructing the subject to tactilely
express the emotion represented by the word selected from the
memory. The memory is controlled by a programmed microprocessor
associated with a clock to produce a sentic cycle in the course
of which words are selected from the set in a predetermined
sequence, each selected word being followed by a series of
time-spaced clicks. The digital output of the memory is
converted into an analog signal that is reproduced so that it
can be heard by the subject. The unit is provided with a finger
rest which is to be pressed by the subject, who after hearing a
selected word then hears a command click in the click series
following the word. After each audible click, the subject then
exerts finger pressure on the finger rest in a manner expressive
of the emotion generated or evoked by the word.
The unit disclosed in my copending application does not use a
pressure-sensitive transducer from whose output is derived a
sentogram. In that unit, finger pressure is applied by the
subject to a finger rest to obtain an emotional release and
other psychological benefits, and sentograms play no role in
this context.
Also of prior art interest are my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,999,773,
4,763,257 and 4,704,682 (Clynes) which disclose systems in which
music is imbued with a composer's inner pulse and/or with
predictive amplitude shapes embodying emotional meaning. These
patents are hereinafter referred to collectively as my music
processing patents.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is
to provide a system that includes a pressure-sensitive
transducer and a computer responsive to the signals yielded by
the transducer for producing a sentic cycle in the course of
which there are evoked in a subject being treated different
emotions, each of which he seeks to express by applying finger
pressure to the actuator of the transducer.
More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide a
system of the above type in which the computer processes the
signals yielded by the transducer so as to present on the screen
of its display terminal a sentogram whose shape characterizes
the emotion expressed by the subject.
A significant advantage of the invention is that the same
computer also functions to average the series of sentograms
produced by the subject in expressing a particular emotion, from
which averaged sentogram one can determine maximum and minimum
slopes, curvatures and amplitudes. These measurements, which can
be also taken from single sentograms, can be compared with
stored sentogram values, from which an index of similarity can
be calculated to inform the subject of his condition or the
progress he has made in using the system.
Another advantage of the system is that the sentograms it
develops and stores can be used to impart a heightened emotional
content to graphically produced animated figures or to
reproduced music. Or the music produced in accordance with my
music processing patents can be used with or without sentograms
to visually modulate these animated figures.
Also an object of this invention is to provide means to
transform a single or averaged sentogram whose shape represents
a subject's emotion into a corresponding physical movement which
so activates a device such as a chair, a bed or a vibrator
coupled to or occupied by an individual so as to communicate
this emotion to the individual.
Briefly stated, these objects are attained in a system
including a touch pressure-sensitive transducer and a computer
responsive thereto for producing a sentic cycle and recording
touch expression in the course of which cycle different emotions
are expressed and generated by applying appropriate finger
pressure to the actuator of the transducer. Stored in the memory
of the computer is a set of words representing the different
emotions, the computer being programmed to sequentially select
these words at timed intervals and to audibly reproduce the
selected word. Each word is followed by a series of time-spaced
audible start clicks, each commanding the subject when to
express with finger pressure on the transducer actuator.
The signals yielded by the transducer which reflect vector
components of the applied finger pressure are processed in the
computer whose display terminal then presents on its screen a
sentogram, the shape of which characterizes the emotions sensed
by the transducer. Sentograms developed by the subject during a
particular sentic cycle or from single expressions are stored in
the computer for comparison with those produced by the same
subject in subsequent cycles to gauge the degree to which the
subject's emotional responses may have changed.
A stored stored sentogram derived from any expressed emotion,
single or averaged, can also be useful to impart an emotional
content to graphically-produced animated figures or reproduced
music modulated as a function of the sentogram.
Similarly, shapes of emotional meaning derived from the
computer program disclosed in my music processing patents may be
used to create an animated "danse" integral with the emotion and
the music. And a sentogram may be transformed into a
corresponding physical movement serving to communicate the
emotion expressed thereby to others.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
For a better understanding of the invention as well as other
objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the
following detailed description to be read in conjunction with
the accompanying drawing whose single FIGURE is a block diagram
of a computerized system for producing sentic cycles in
accordance with the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
In a system in accordance with the invention, there is provided
a pressure-sensitive transducer 10 having an actuator which when
pressed by a finger of the subject being treated, causes the
transducer to yield electrical analog signals representing
vector components of the applied pressure, from which signals a
sentogram is derived. These signals are applied to a digital
computer 11.
In practice, the transducer may be constituted by strain
gauges, force-sensitive resistors or capacitive elements adapted
to sense the horizontal and vertical components of finger
pressure applied to actuator 10A which may be in the form of a
cantilevered finger rest. Optionally, one may also include left
and right pressure-sensitive elements to produce
three-dimensional sentograms defined by the pressure components
in mutually perpendicular X, Y and Z directions.
The subject being treated preferably should be in a sitting
position, with the transducer placed, say, on the arm rest of a
chair or on a table whose level is such that the subject can
extend his arm horizontally whereby he may comfortably engage
the actuator with the middle finger of one hand.
In order to be able to process the transducer analog signals in
digital computer 11 included in the system, they must first be
converted into digital signals. For this purpose, the analog
signals from transducer 10 are applied through an amplifier 12,
such as one having FET stages, to an analog-to-digital converter
13 whose output is fed into an input 14 of the computer.
Alternatively, the pressure-sensing element may be incorporated
in an oscillator whose frequency varies as a function of the
force applied to the sensing element, the frequency of the
oscillator being counted to provide a digital input to the
computer through an appropriate input port.
In a typical digital computer, the hardware includes a central
processing unit (CPU) and a main storage unit (MS) serving to
store both the program and the data on which it operates. A
storage address register (SAR) holds the address of the storage
location to be activated, either in order to read the contents
of the location or for storing into the location. A storage data
register (SDR) temporarily holds data being read into and out of
storage, while an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) performs the
specified operation on the data presented at its inputs. The ALU
is routed to either a register stack (RS), an I/O control unit
(IOCU) or to main storage (MS) by means of signals from the
central processing unit (CPU).
The register stack (RS) included in the computer is a special
purpose storage unit usable for the temporary storage of data
and addresses, and when put to use instead of main storage (MS)
it is because it can be accessed more quickly. The I/O control
unit (IOCU) represents the means which provide for the detailed
control of the input/output units such as video terminals and
data acquisition equipment. The instruction address register
(IAR) contains the locations of the instructions currently being
executed, whereas the instruction register (IR) is a temporary
storage location in which the current instruction is held during
execution.
The computer hardware is controlled by a series of instructions
which are stored in main storage (MS), the sequence of
instructions constituting the computer program.
In a system in accordance with the invention, computer 10 is
preferably an integrated circuit microcomputer whose chips
contain a central processing unit (CPU), a program memory (ROM),
a data memory (RAM), oscillator and clock circuits, and an
input/output (I/O) structure. In FIG. 1, only those elements of
the computer necessary for an understanding of the system and
the computer program are included. Computer 10 is programmed to
respond to finger pressure applied by a subject to transducer 10
and to execute a sentic cycle.
Digitally stored at different sites in a ROM 15 or in any other
computer storage facility are a set of words required for a
sentic cycle lasting, say, about 30 minutes. Typically, these
words are "no emotion," "anger," "hate," "grief," "love," "sex,"
"joy" and "reverence." Also digitally stored in ROM 15 is the
sound of a start click such that as that produced by a soft
knock on a piece of wood or any other abrupt sound signal acting
to command the subject to apply finger pressure to the
transducer actuator to physically express the emotion the
subject feels that is represented by a word selected from the
computer memory.
ROM 15 is controlled by a central processing unit 16 associated
with a clock 17. As governed by clock 17, the computer is
programmed so as to extract at predetermined intervals from ROM
15 in the course of each sentic cycle, successive words from the
word set digitally stored in the ROM. Each word is followed by a
series of time-spaced audible start clicks which command the
subject to tactilely respond to the previously extracted word.
The digital output of ROM 15 is converted by a D-to-A converter
18 into a corresponding analog signal. This analog signal, which
is in stepped form, is applied, after suitable filtering, to an
amplifier 19 whose output is fed to a loudspeaker 20. Thus the
subject in the course of a sentic cycle hears each word selected
from the set, and following each word, the subject then hears at
time-spaced intervals a series of audible command clicks.
The time spacing between clicks in a series thereof are
preferably different for each emotion, but are distributed
around a mean time suitably chosen for each emotion in a range
of about 4 to 10 seconds. The number of clicks in the series
thereof following each word representing an emotion also varies
from emotion to emotion in the sentic cycle sequence, but
typically lies in a range of about 20 to 40 clicks per series,
though it may be less or more than that.
The sentic forms or sentograms representing an emotion
expressed in terms of finger pressure by the subject are
displayed on screen 21 of the computer terminal 22, the screen
showing a sentic form 23.
In the sentic cycler unit disclosed in my above-identified
copending application, two control buttons are provided which
permit the subject to either increase the number of time-spaced
clicks in the series thereof which follow a word representing a
particular emotion or to skip over clicks.
When the subject at some intermediate point in the course of a
click series presses the first control button, then the system
reverts to the first click in the series, giving the subject an
additional number of clicks to express the emotion represented
by the word. But if the second button is pressed at an
intermediate point in the series, then the remaining clicks are
skipped and the system goes onto the next word in the sequence.
In the computerized sentic cycle system in accordance with the
invention, in lieu of buttons to effect prolongation of a click
series or a skipping action, the mouse associated with the
computer is adapted to carry out these functions, the mouse
being a mobile manual device that controls movement of a cursor
on the computer display. Depression of the mouse by the subject
serves to effect the desired actions. Or the computer may
include a voice-actuated switching arrangement which when the
user says "repeat," this will cause the click series to repeat
itself, but when the user says "skip," this will then terminate
the click series and go on to the next word.
The sentograms 23 displayed on screen 21 of the display
terminal represent on-line sentic patterns produced each time
the subject applies finger pressure to the transducer actuator
in response to the series of time-spaced command clicks.
The computer is also programmed to average the successive
sentograms produced in response to a series of clicks. An
average sentogram has a shape which may best characterize the
subject's expression of a particular emotion, for one or more of
the sentograms created in a given series may constitute
aberrations. The averaged sentogram is supplied to an analyzer
24 to determine maximum and minimum slopes, curvatures and
amplitudes. These measurements can be compared in the analyzer
with stored values. An index of similarity can be calculated
from these measurements to inform the subject.
Also provided is a recorder 25 to make of record the averaged
sentograms produced by a subject in the course of a sentic cycle
on a particular day, so that they may be compared with those
produced in subsequent sessions, thereby making it possible to
gauge the subject's progress.
Observation of the sentic forms may be carried out by a trained
analyst who is skilled in correlating the sentograms produced by
a subject with specific states of emotion which may be "mixed
states," to examine the appropriateness and significance of the
expressions.
In practice, sentograms may be recorded that reflect the
emotional reaction of a subject to an individual about whom he
has strong feelings or to imagined situations which release a
negative emotion. Thus with some individuals, the sight of a
snake or a bat may give rise to an intense phobic reaction. If
the objective is to desensitize the subject or get rid of a
particular phobia, then by comparing the sentograms produced by
the subject on a particular day with those produced on
subsequent days, one may be able to gauge the progress being
made by the subject toward overcoming the phobia.
The sentograms stored in the computer express an emotion such
as love or anger in a sentic form that can serve to impart this
emotion to various types of artistic activity. Thus with
animated dancing figures created by computer-aided design
techniques, a sentogram expressing a particular emotion can be
so introduced into the graphics control of the animated figures
as to cause the movements of the figures to express this
emotion, or to change colors in corresponding dynamic ways.
Or the sentic form for a particular emotion can be used to
amplitude-modulate or otherwise directly or indirectly modify
the wave form of reproduced music so that the music is more
expressive of this emotion. If, for example, the emotion is that
of grief, the sentogram for this emotion could be used to so
modulate music so as to to render it sadder. And if the emotion
is that of joy, its sentogram can be used to so modulate music
as to enhance the sense of joy.
It is to be understood that the musical performance which is
reproduced is not devoid of emotional expression, for this
depends on the nature of the music and the expressive ability of
the performers. By imposing on the reproduced music aspects of
the sentic form of a particular emotion, one is able to purify
and/or intensify the emotion expressed by the music and heighten
its effect on listeners.
In practice, the forms and corresponding parameters disclosed
in my music processing patents may be substituted or combined
with sentograms to create "living" dance forms that harmonize
emotionally with the music and are integral therewith, thereby
largely dispensing with the need for choreography.
A single or averaged sentogram stored in computer 11
representing a particular emotion expressed by a subject can be
communicated to other individuals in terms of physical movement
corresponding to the shape of the sentogram. With such
communication, one can realize beneficial effects not heretofore
attainable with known devices imparting a physical movement to
an individual.
It is known to incorporate in a chair, a bed or a cradle to be
occupied by an individual, an electrically-powered vibrator, the
vibrations of which subject the occupant to periodic vibrations
intended to relieve stress or to promote sleep. In some
vibrators of this type, one can adjust the repetition rate or
amplitude of the vibrations. But once an adjustment is made, the
vibratory rate and amplitude remain substantially constant. Also
known are vibrators which directly massage the body of an
individual to relieve tension, to stimulate circulation and to
obtain other beneficial effects. And in the practice of
physiotherapy, a skilled masseur will so repetitively apply
pressure to the body of a patient with his fingers as to relax
the patient and reduce tension and stress.
But whether the massaging pressures are applied by powered
vibrators or manually, they do not induce in the individual
being treated an emotion serving to create a sense, say, of
loving care and warmth highly conducive to the release of
tension and stress. This distinction is best understood by a
simple analogy. A mother, in order to soothe her baby, will
repetitively stroke the baby's body with her fingers and apply a
gentle pressure in such a way as to express her love for the
child. This technique, which is universally practiced, is highly
effective. But while it would be possible to carry out a similar
stroking action by mechanical means, the impersonal pressures
applied thereby would not be nearly as effective.
In the present invention, a transformer 28 responsive to a
sentogram stored in computer 11 which has a shape representing
an emotion to be communicated, such as love or reverence, is
transformed into a corresponding physical movement of
predetermined duration. To this end, the digitally-stored
sentogram is converted into an analog signal which is expanded
in time and then amplified and applied to an
electromagnetically-operated mechanism. The armature or other
movable element of the mechanism is caused to execute a movement
in accordance with the shape of the sentogram.
Transformer 28 is incorporated or coupled to a chair, bed or
other device to be occupied by an individual to be treated, so
as to repeatedly apply the sentogram movement to the individual
to be treated. Thus in the case of a seat whose back is engaged
by the back of the individual, the transformer is so coupled to
the chair back as to cause it to move back and forth in
compliance with the shape of the sentogram.
In the case of a massaging vibrator which conventionally
operates at a predetermined vibratory rate and amplitude, the
motor of the vibrator will take the form of or be controlled by
transformer 28 which then acts to modulate the amplitude of the
periodic vibrations and/or the repetition rate thereof so that
the vibratory movement then conforms to the sentogram shape.
In this way, an individual subjected to a physical movement
reflecting the shape of a sentogram expressing a particular
emotion will have that emotion communicated to him. And if this
emotion is of a nature conducive to the release of stress or
tension, its effect will be salutary.
In the case of a driver's seat in an automobile, it may be
desirable at times that the emotion communicated to the occupant
of this seat be such as to act as a stimulant to discourage the
driver from falling asleep at the wheel. Thus the nature of the
emotion communicated must be calculated to obtain the desired
effect.
Speech Modulation
The invention is not limited to modulating the sounds of
reproduced music with sentograms or sentic forms stored in the
computer, as previously disclosed, to render the music more
expressive. In practice, the reproduced sounds may take the form
of speech or spoken messages digitally or otherwise stored in
the computer, which are modulated by sentograms selected from
the computer memory. Such modulation acts to impart to the
reproduced speech the emotions represented by the selected
sentograms.
In human speech, there are two distinctly different sources of
sound. One source is sounds which occur during so-called
"voiced" speech, such as the vowels EE, AH and AW, as well as
vowel-like consonants, such as W and M. Then the vocal chord
vibrations break up the flow of air from the lungs into sharp
pulses. These typically occur at a repetition rate of about 75
to 250 Hz, the sounds being rich in harmonics. The other source
arises from "unvoiced" consonants, such as S and F, resulting in
a hiss caused by air turbulence in the mouth. In speech
synthesis, one seeks to create similar sounds.
The Henderson U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,540 discloses a computer
which incorporates a speech synthesizer to be used for
educational purposes or as a language translator, the speech to
be reproduced being digitally stored in the computer memory.
Also known are computers in which speech messages are stored,
which, when reproduced, supply operating instructions to the
operator of the computer. Or the messages may be tied in with
the computer program to guide the operator with respect to data
presented on the computer display terminal. But whether the
speech reproduced by the computer is for educational,
instructional or for any other purpose, it has an inflexible
quality. The characteristics of the reproduced speech are in no
way accommodated to the personal requirements of the operator.
From an ergonomic standpoint the placement of the control
elements of a computer to be manipulated by an operator must
take into account his physical limitations, and consideration
must be given to the ability of an operator to see illuminated
data on a computer display terminal without experiencing eye
fatigue. However, little consideration has heretofore been given
to the psychological effects of computer-generated speech on the
operator or user of of the computer.
The concern of human engineering or ergonomics is with those
human characteristics that must be considered in designing a
machine for human use in order that individuals and machines
interact more effectively and safely. From a purely operational
standpoint, the interaction between a computer and its human
operator by way of reproduced speech to which the operator
responds only dictates that the speech be clear and
understandable. But when human engineering is applied to this
interaction, the expressivity of the reproduced speech plays an
important role in eliciting an effective human response to the
speech and in reducing operator fatigue.
Just as a teacher whose speech is warm, friendly, and
responsive is more likely to gain the attention of his students
and teach them more effectively than a teacher whose voice is
rigid and forbidding, an effective interaction between a
computer and its operator in which the operator is required to
respond to computer-generated speech messages, is promoted when
this speech is not mechanical and impersonal, but is
appropriately and flexibly emotionally expressive.
In a system in accordance with the invention, the reproduced
sounds when in the form of speech messages issuing from a
computer have flexible, emotionally-expressive qualities
imparted thereto as part of a program whose character may also
be selected by the operator. Thus some operators may prefer a
voice that is commanding without being harsh, while others may
prefer a gentler and sympathetic voice.
The sentic forms or sentograms stored in the computer may be
those reflective of basic or pure emotions, and they can be
those of compound or mixed emotions. The latter are produced by
telescoping two component emotions (rarely three). Telescoping
is effected by a seamless joining of the two component emotion
forms somewhere in the middle, so that the front section of one
emotion form is joined to the rear section of the second
emotion. The frequency and amplitude contours of the joined
together sections must connect without a frequency glitch or
amplitude glitch. For this purpose, use is made of a simple
short splicing function (spline), thereby avoiding slope
discontinuities. Or the sentogram reflecting a compound emotion
may be derived through touch by an individual expressing this
emotion.
In practice, the sentic forms can be used to modulate speech in
the following ways:
(a) The amplitude contour of the sentic form can modulate the
amplitude contour of the speech pattern which is covered in time
by the sentic form. This will affect the relative accents as
well as speech portions between accents.
(b) The sentic form is placed along the speech pattern, but
remains wedded to its own duration. That means that the speech
pattern may be longer than the sentic form, in which case the
sentic form is placed along the speech flow line in a suitable
way, most frequently so that the speech ends together with the
sentic form, but not necessarily so. It may also start together
with it or be placed somewhere in the middle. For longer speech
messages, several sentic forms would be placed along the speech
flow, but not generally contiguously.
There will quite often be an interval in which no sentic form
is placed, so that sentic forms will be interspersed with
non-sentic speech parts, which may be fairly short, however. For
very short speech flows, only a portion of the sentic form might
be traversed, in which case the silence which follows is
pregnant with the form, implicitly, or explicitly in terms of
breathing or other "noise." A second sentic form should not be
started until the previous one's duration is completed.
Otherwise inhibition of feeling and frustration will tend to
occur.
(c) The speech pattern needs to be modulated by the frequency
curve of the sentic form; of course, synchronously with the
amplitude contour of the sentic form. In this, the preexisting
syntactic frequency movements (especially of the fundamental)
must be preserved in altered form; i.e., within the sentic
frequency modulation pattern, either by addition or by
multiplication; i.e., log function, or some intermediate,
non-linear function. Existing special compression and dilation
techniques known in the art may be used to preserve the
independence of frequency changes from the speech tempo. The
timing of this is similar to (b). The amplitude of the frequency
contour is largely determined by the sentic form for each
emotion, and varies comparatively little with the intensity of
the emotion. In addition to the frequency contour, there is an
offset (DC shift) in frequency that is different for each
emotion.
(d) An effective vibrato can be added to the voice in
dynamically-related ways; e.g., as a dynamic function of the
amplitude contour, where the vibrato is also modulated by
parameters of the sentic form in its own rate as well as in its
own amplitude. This is also related to the natural ten per
second tremor (of muscle systems and of voice). The placement
and character of the vibrato will vary for different emotions.
(e) It is desirable also for optimal effect to change the
timbre of the voice. This is also done as a dynamic function of
the sentic form plus a DC shift, and differently for each
emotion (e.g., for love in a relaxing direction, for anger
tensing). In each case, the frequency spectrum of the voice is
modulated to change it transiently to correspond to the
requirements of the sentic form. A VCF
(voltage-controlled-filter) can be used for this purpose;
several may be used to cover the required changes in the
frequency bands. They too will be used in relation to the sentic
form (either the amplitude or the derivative of the sentic
form), or a combination of the two can be used to modulate the
timbre through a VCF or other electronic means, such as variable
clipping of the speech.
The vowels U, O and A are the most relaxed, I and E tense,
consonants like plosives are easily tensed up; a variable
treatment of consonants may be desirable for total optimization;
however, much of the variation will be accounted for by the
above factors alone.
(f) The parameters of the sentic form can be used to modulate
the timing of the speech so that selected portions of the speech
accelerate or slow down according to the dictates of the sentic
form. This stretching or compressing of the speech flow as part
of the expression does not affect the duration of the sentic
forms, but happens within them. The slope as well as amplitude
of the sentic form can be involved as a guide to the timing
changes of the speech. These speed changes need to be
independently realized of voice frequency changes, as mentioned
in (c) supra.
The most effective expression of emotion occurs when the
above-listed factors are combined. However, a graduated
emotionalism can be applied to computer speech through an add-on
of the various factors. For example, vibrato and timbre
modulation can be added on to increase the emotionality in
steps, or even frequency changes can be first left out, only the
amplitude contour remaining. Thus a computer user could vary the
effective intensity of emotionality displayed by the computer by
simply choosing the number of add-on features to include. The
computer could increase the intensity of emotion, not by
increasing any factor, per se, but by the number of factors
(dimensions) employed. The user could simply dial in on a speech
emotion control panel "slightly emotional," "moderately
emotional," "very emotional"--according to his preference or
need at the time.
This may well be preferable to increasing, say, loudness or
some other variable on its own. Clearly love is not expressed
more effectively by greater loudness, although anger may be.
Anger, however, can be effectively expressed with moderate
loudness if the other variables are coordinatedly expressed.
Loudness alone will not express anger unless the other factors
are present also. However, as appropriately modulated whisper
can express virtually all the emotions. With the coordinated
shaping of emotional expression in the above-described manner,
it becomes possible to produce computer-generated expressive
speech exceeding in persuasiveness that of average human speech.
Moving Sound Source
By means of sentic-form modulation, a source of sound can be
made to undergo movement in space, the sound source tracing out
in space at an appropriate time scale, the trajectory of the
sentic form. This may be realized either by actual movement of a
single sound source in accordance with the sentic form or as an
auditory effect produced through several stationary speakers at
different spatial positions, the sentic-form modulation of the
sounds produced by the respective speakers being coordinated in
well-known ways as in stereophonic systems.
Sound movements in accordance with the sentic form will act to
communicate the corresponding emotional quality in one listener,
thereby enhancing the emotional communication in an additional
modality. This would be enhancing for cinema, television and for
stage performances, especially for disembodied speech.
While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment
of a computer system in accordance with the invention, it will
be appreciated that many changes and modifications may be made
therein without, however, departing from the essential spirit
thereof. Thus sentograms can be obtained from other modalities
as from brain functions directly.
