Abstract: An audio synchronization method includes: receiving a first audio signal from a first recording device; receiving a second audio signal from a second recording device; performing a correlation operation upon the first audio signal and the second audio signal to align a first pattern of the first audio signal and the first pattern of the second audio signal; after the first patterns of the first audio signal and the second audio signal are aligned, calculating a difference between a second pattern of the first audio signal and the second pattern of the second audio signal; and obtaining a starting-time difference between the first audio signal and the second audio signal for audio synchronization according to the difference between the second pattern of the first audio signal and the second pattern of the second audio signal.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus of reconstructing 360 audio/video (AV) file from multiple AV tracks captured by multiple capture devices are disclosed. According to the present invention, for multi-track audio/video data comprising a first and second audio tracks and a first and second video tracks, the first audio track and the first video track are aligned with the second audio track and the second video track by utilizing video synchronization information derived from the first video track and the second video track if the video synchronization information is available. When the video synchronization information is available, the first audio track and the first video track are aligned with the second audio track and the second video track by utilizing the video synchronization information.

Abstract: An audio refocusing method includes receiving an indication signal indicating which sound source in a recorded signal has to be refocused on; determining a direction of the sound source or a location of the sound source; and enhancing sound generated by the sound source in the recorded signal according to the direction or the location of the sound source to generate a processed signal.

Abstract: The invention provides a system for speech keyword detection and associated method. The system includes a speech keyword detector, an activity predictor and a decision maker. The activity predictor obtains sensor data provided by a plurality of sensors, and processes the sensor data to provide an activity prediction result indicating a probability for whether a user is about to give voice keyword. The decision maker processes the activity prediction result and a preliminary keyword detection result of the speech keyword detection to provide a keyword detection result.

Abstract: An audio refocusing method includes receiving an indication signal indicating which sound source in a recorded signal has to be refocused on; determining a direction of the sound source or a location of the sound source; and enhancing sound generated by the sound source in the recorded signal according to the direction or the location of the sound source to generate a processed signal.

Abstract: A voice control device has a speech command recognizer, a sensor data processor and a decision making circuit. The speech command recognizer is arranged for performing speech command recognition to output a recognized speech command. The sensor data processor is arranged for processing sensor data generated from at least one auxiliary sensor to generate a detection output. The decision making circuit is arranged for deciding a response of the voice control device according to the recognized speech command and the detection output. The same speech command is able to trigger difference responses according to the detection output (e.g., detected motion). Besides, an adaptive training process may be employed to improve the accuracy of the sensor data processor. Hence, the voice control device may have improved performance of the voice control feature due to a reduce occurrence probability of miss errors and false alarm errors.

Abstract: An electronic device for browsing a document is disclosed. The document being browsed includes a plurality of command-associated text strings. First, a text string selector of the electronic device selects a plurality of candidate text strings from the command-associated text strings. Afterward, an acoustic string provider of the electronic device prepares a candidate acoustic string for each of the candidate text strings. Thereafter, a microphone of the electronic device receives a voice command. Next, a speech recognizer of the electronic device searches the candidate acoustic strings for a target acoustic string that matches the voice command, wherein the target acoustic string corresponds to a target text string of the candidate text strings. Finally, a document browser of the electronic device executes a command associated with the target text string.

Abstract: A portable electronic device including an ultrasound transmitter, an ultrasound receiver, and a processing unit is provided. The ultrasound transmitter sends ultrasonic signals, while the ultrasound receiver receives reflected ultrasonic signals from an object. The ultrasound transmitter and the ultrasound receiver are disposed to form a reference axis. The processing unit processes the reflected ultrasonic signals to obtain a time-frequency distribution thereof, and determines a 1D gesture corresponding to projection loci of movements of the object on the reference axis according to the time-frequency distribution.

Abstract: An active noise control system and associated auto-selection method for modeling a secondary path for the active noise control system are provided. The method includes the steps of: receiving a reference signal; filtering the reference signal with a secondary-path estimation filter to obtain a filtered reference signal, wherein the secondary path estimation filter is determined from a plurality of candidate secondary-path estimation filters; filtering the reference signal with an adaptive filter to provide a compensation signal; sensing a residual noise signal at a listening position of the active noise control system; and adapting filter coefficients of the adaptive filter according to the residual noise signal and the filtered reference signal.

Abstract: An active noise control system and associated auto-selection method for modeling a secondary path for the active noise control system are provided. The method includes the steps of: receiving a reference signal; filtering the reference signal with a secondary-path estimation filter to obtain a filtered reference signal, wherein the secondary path estimation filter is determined from a plurality of candidate secondary-path estimation filters; filtering the reference signal with an adaptive filter to provide a compensation signal; sensing a residual noise signal at a listening position of the active noise control system; and adapting filter coefficients of the adaptive filter according to the residual noise signal and the filtered reference signal.

Abstract: A portable electronic device including an ultrasound transmitter, an ultrasound receiver, and a processing unit is provided. The ultrasound transmitter sends ultrasonic signals, while the ultrasound receiver receives reflected ultrasonic signals from an object. The ultrasound transmitter and the ultrasound receiver are disposed to form a reference axis. The processing unit processes the reflected ultrasonic signals to obtain a time-frequency distribution thereof, and determines a 1D gesture corresponding to projection loci of movements of the object on the reference axis according to the time-frequency distribution.

Abstract: The invention provides a system for speech keyword detection and associated method. The system includes a speech keyword detector, an activity predictor and a decision maker. The activity predictor obtains sensor data provided by a plurality of sensors, and processes the sensor data to provide an activity prediction result indicating a probability for whether a user is about to give voice keyword. The decision maker processes the activity prediction result and a preliminary keyword detection result of the speech keyword detection to provide a keyword detection result.

Abstract: A voice control device has a speech command recognizer, a sensor data processor and a decision making circuit. The speech command recognizer is arranged for performing speech command recognition to output a recognized speech command. The sensor data processor is arranged for processing sensor data generated from at least one auxiliary sensor to generate a detection output. The decision making circuit is arranged for deciding a response of the voice control device according to the recognized speech command and the detection output. The same speech command is able to trigger difference responses according to the detection output (e.g., detected motion). Besides, an adaptive training process may be employed to improve the accuracy of the sensor data processor. Hence, the voice control device may have improved performance of the voice control feature due to a reduce occurrence probability of miss errors and false alarm errors.

Abstract: An embodiment of the invention provides an electronic device. The electronic device is configured to protect a set of private data of an authorized user of the electronic device. The electronic device includes a biometric sampler, a biometric authenticator, and a data provider. The biometric sampler is configured to covertly collect a set of biometric samples from a current user of the electronic device. The biometric authenticator is configured to covertly use the set of biometric samples of the current user and a set of biometric data of the authorized user to verify whether the current user is the authorized user. The data provider is configured to give the current user access to a set of fake data instead of the set of private data if the current user is not the authorized user.

Abstract: An electronic device for browsing a document is disclosed. The document being browsed includes a plurality of command-associated text strings. First, a text string selector of the electronic device selects a plurality of candidate text strings from the command-associated text strings. Afterward, an acoustic string provider of the electronic device prepares a candidate acoustic string for each of the candidate text strings. Thereafter, a microphone of the electronic device receives a voice command. Next, a speech recognizer of the electronic device searches the candidate acoustic strings for a target acoustic string that matches the voice command, wherein the target acoustic string corresponds to a target text string of the candidate text strings. Finally, a document browser of the electronic device executes a command associated with the target text string.

Abstract: A disclosed embodiment provides a speech recognition method to be performed by an electronic device. The method includes: collecting user-specific information that is specific to a user through the user's usage of the electronic device; recording an utterance made by the user; letting a remote server generate a remote speech recognition result for the recorded utterance; generating rescoring information for the recorded utterance based on the collected user-specific information; and letting the remote speech recognition result rescored based on the rescoring information.