Viterbi Extraction tutorial with Hidden Markov Toolkit

An algorithm used to extract HMM parameters is revisited. Most parts of the extraction process are taken from implemented Hidden Markov Toolkit (HTK) program under name HInit. The algorithm itself shows a few variations compared to another domain of implementations. The HMM model is introduced briefly based on the theory of Discrete Time Markov Chain. We schematically outline the Viterbi method implemented in HTK. Iterative definition of the method which is ready to be implemented in computer programs is reviewed. We also illustrate the method calculation precisely using manual calculation and extensive graphical illustration. The distribution of observation probability used is simply independent Gaussians r.v.s. The purpose of the content is not to justify the performance or accuracy of the method applied in a specific area. This writing merely to describe how the algorithm is performed. The whole content should enlighten the audience the insight of the Viterbi Extraction method used by HTK.

Practical Speech Recognition with HTK

The practical aspects of developing an Automatic Speech Recognition System (ASR) with HTK are reviewed. Steps are explained concerning hardware, software, libraries, applications and computer programs used. The common procedure to rapidly apply speech recognition system is summarized. The procedure is illustrated, to implement a speech based electrical switch in home automation for the Indonesian language. The main key of the procedure is to match the environment for training and testing using the training data recorded from the testing program, HVite. Often the silence detector of HTK is wrongly triggered by noises because the microphone is too sensitive. This problem is mitigated by simply scaling down the volume. In this sub-word phone-based speech recognition, noise is included in the training database and labelled particularly. Illustration of the procedure is applied to a home automation application. Electrical switches are controlled by Indonesian speech recognizer. The results show 100% command completion rate.