16 Nov 2023
I am very happy to announce that the journal paper I first-authored called Acoustics of Breath Noises in Human Speech: Descriptive and Three-Dimensional Modeling Approaches is now online and open access via ASHA and PubMed.
My co-authors for this project were Susanne Fuchs (ZAS Berlin), Jürgen Trouvain, Bernd Möbius (both UdS), Steffen Kürbis, and Peter Birkholz (both TU Dresden).
The paper gives the first description of the spectral characteristics of speech breath noises produced by a large number of (German) speakers.
In addition, we modeled in- and exhalations using 3D-printed vocal tract models, that were produced using MRI.
The main findings are:
- Breath noises have several weak peaks that align with resonances found in a very controlled setting where participants inhaled with the VT configuration of a central vowel in Hanna et al. 2018.
- Comparing in- and exhalation spectra in the 3D-printed VT models, airflow direction changes the spectral properties of /s ʃ ç i:/, but not of the other sounds we investigated.
- We tried to compare real inhalations and model inhalations but there is a myriad of mechanisms that are either hard to model or still un(der)-researched for speech breathing, so there's many interesting things left to do in that field.
The findings may help with the automatic detection of pathologies such as COVID-19, pathological cries and coughs in infancy, or vocal fold paralysis, or the emotional or cognitive state of the speaker.
I hope that this paves the way for further work using the acoustics of breath noises in general, but also in pathological and synthesized speech.
05 Oct 2023
The day after my PhD defense I left for the Netherlands – Nijmegen, to be more specific.
I went there to start my new job at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behavior at the Radboud Universiteit.
There, I’ll be working with Wim Pouw on the biomechanics of speech and gestures, so how the upper-body muscle activity, posture, and voice production interact.
I am super excited for this, as we’ll be using loads of fun methods such as sEMG for muscle activation, RIP for breathing patterns, balance boards for changes in posture, and video for 3D motion tracking.
04 Oct 2023
On the 4th of October, exactly 5 months after submission, I defended my dissertation at UdS in Saarbrücken.
It was logistically challenging, as I had moved to Frankfurt and started a new position in the Netherlands in the meantime.
I had been a bit nervous in the time leading up to it, but it all went better than I ever imagined.
The presentation went like clockwork, thanks to a practice run I did a week ago for the phonetics group and several practice runs my girlfriend was kind enough to listen to (big thank you!).
So this is a big recommendation of practicing!
The questions were all great and appreciative, from every person involved including the external reviewer and the chair.
For the aforementioned logistical situation, I had previously dallied with the idea of having it online.
I am very happy I did not end up doing that, as it was a wonderful end to my PhD time at UdS.
A massive thank you to everyone showing up – colleagues, friends, and family – and the committee for making this so enjoyable.
And for the awesome hat I got!
I am also extremely grateful who contributed to my PhD being such a lovely time!
28 Oct 2022
Almost eight months ago, I participated in ESSV2022.
Not only did my avatar do capoeira during the group photo, but I also won the award for best student paper!
I hadn’t posted about it because I wanted to wait for the trophy and prize money to get here, so here it is:
my ESSV 2022 best student paper award trophy!
It took a bit because of covid delay and on top of that, the apple had quite an odyssey, as there there’s been some delivery problems related to street naming madness.
Anyways, I finally got it and I like it a lot!
The little pedestal is 3D-printed and the apple, representing SDU’s university logo, is wooden.
The paper that won the whole thing was on Perceptual categorization of breath noises in speech pauses can be accessed here or with the poster and stimuli via Publications.
22 Jul 2022
I have recently been to the summer school on complexity in speech production and perception in Chorin and it was a lot of fun having a chance to talk to people that are doing similar or even completely different things!
I think zoom etc. work well for a very purpose-driven exchange but just having a chat with other junior and established researchers is what I have been really lacking.
So thanks a lot for the organization and everybody that was there and contributed in their own ways!
The following week, we went on to IAFPA2022 in Prague and had a great time there!
I hadn’t known a lot about the fascinating world of forensic phonetics before that but I now know a little more about it.
And again, had a lot of great conversations with people there. The organizers also did a wonderful job at planning everything (I mean conference dinner on a boat going up and down the Vltava!?)!
I also won best student poster award! What really means the most to me is seeing some people actually caring about what I do so I enjoyed that a lot but the prize was a complete surprise to me, as (not) visible in the picture. I had to run early to catch my train.
So again, wonderful events! Really looking forward to the next ones :)
Also, I may have won something else earlier this year but I am waiting for something to happen first before I make an announcement here, so stay tuned.