A silent speech interface (SSI) maps articulatory movement data to speech output. Although still in experimental stages, silent speech interfaces hold significant potential for facilitating oral communication in persons after laryngectomy or with other severe voice impairments. Despite the recent efforts on silent speech recognition algorithm development using offline data analysis, online test of SSIs have rarely been conducted. In this paper, we present a preliminary, online test of a real-time, interactive SSI based on electromagnetic motion tracking. The SSI played back synthesized speech sounds in response to the user’s tongue and lip movements. Three English talkers participated in this test, where they mouthed (silently articulated) phrases using the device to complete a phrase-reading task. Among the three participants, 96.67% to 100% of the mouthed phrases were correctly recognized and corresponding synthesized sounds were played after a short delay. Furthermore, one participant demonstrated the feasibility of using the SSI for a short conversation. The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility and potential of silent speech interfaces based on electromagnetic articulograph for future clinical applications.
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