M-BEST-RQ: A Multi-Channel Speech Foundation Model for Wearable Devices
Alapfogalmak
M-BEST-RQ is a multi-channel speech foundation model designed to leverage large-scale self-supervised learning for tasks on wearable devices such as smart glasses, enabling array-geometry agnostic representations and strong performance across multiple downstream applications.
Kivonat
The paper introduces M-BEST-RQ, the first multi-channel speech foundation model designed specifically for wearable devices like smart glasses. The key insights are:
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Array-geometry invariance is achieved by using fixed beamformers to convert an arbitrary number of input channels to a fixed number of directional signals, which can then be processed by a neural encoder.
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The neural encoder is a multi-channel extension of the BEST-RQ model, which is trained using masked estimation methods on a combination of large-scale synthetic and real multi-channel data.
The authors evaluate M-BEST-RQ on three downstream tasks:
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Conversational Automatic Speech Recognition (C-ASR): M-BEST-RQ fine-tuned with only 8 hours of labeled data outperforms a supervised ASR baseline trained on 2000 hours of data.
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Spherical Active Source Localization (S-ASL): M-BEST-RQ matches or outperforms audio-visual baselines on this task, demonstrating its ability to work across different wearable devices.
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Glasses Wearer Voice Activity Detection (W-VAD): M-BEST-RQ achieves comparable performance to audio-visual baselines on this task.
The results show that M-BEST-RQ is a generic foundation model that can be effectively fine-tuned for various multi-channel speech processing tasks on wearable devices, without the need for large amounts of labeled data.
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arxiv.org
M-BEST-RQ: A Multi-Channel Speech Foundation Model for Smart Glasses
Statisztikák
The simulated 7-channel LibriSpeech and Libri-Light datasets have a total duration of about 142,000 hours.
The real multi-channel data from the Project Aria glasses has a duration of about 800 hours.
The MMCSG dataset for the C-ASR task has 8.5 hours of training data, 8.4 hours of development data, and 9.4 hours of evaluation data.
The EasyCom dataset for the S-ASL and W-VAD tasks has a total duration of about 5.3 hours.
Idézetek
"Our key insight to achieve device-agnosticity is to use multiple super-directivity beamformers to convert "channels" to a fixed number of "directions" which can be processed by the neural encoder."
"On the C-ASR task, M-BEST-RQ achieves 20.1%/28.1% word error rate (WER) for self/other speaker using only 8 hours of labeled speech, outperforming an ASR baseline trained on 2k hours labeled data."
"On the S-ASL and W-VAD tasks, our audio-only M-BEST-RQ model matches or outperforms baselines trained with audio-visual modalities, indicating that M-BEST-RQ is a generic foundation model that can work for several downstream tasks on different devices."
Mélyebb kérdések
How can the M-BEST-RQ model be further improved to handle more challenging acoustic environments, such as highly reverberant or noisy settings?
To enhance the M-BEST-RQ model's performance in challenging acoustic environments, several strategies can be employed. First, incorporating advanced noise reduction techniques, such as spectral subtraction or Wiener filtering, could help mitigate the effects of background noise. Additionally, integrating adaptive beamforming algorithms that dynamically adjust to varying noise conditions and reverberation levels would improve the model's robustness.
Another approach is to augment the training data with synthetic examples that simulate extreme acoustic conditions, including high levels of reverberation and noise. This would allow the model to learn more generalized representations that are resilient to such disturbances. Furthermore, leveraging multi-channel data from diverse environments during the self-supervised learning (SSL) phase could enhance the model's ability to generalize across different acoustic settings.
Finally, implementing a multi-task learning framework where the model is simultaneously trained on various tasks, such as noise suppression and source localization, could lead to improved feature extraction capabilities. This would enable the M-BEST-RQ model to better discern speech signals from complex acoustic backgrounds, ultimately enhancing its performance in real-world applications.
What other types of downstream tasks could benefit from the array-geometry agnostic representations learned by the M-BEST-RQ model?
The array-geometry agnostic representations learned by the M-BEST-RQ model can be beneficial for a variety of downstream tasks beyond conversational automatic speech recognition (ASR), spherical active source localization (S-ASL), and glasses wearer voice activity detection (W-VAD).
Speaker Identification and Verification: The model's ability to extract robust features from multi-channel audio can be leveraged for tasks involving identifying or verifying speakers in a conversation, which is crucial for applications in security and personalized user experiences.
Emotion Recognition: By analyzing the spatial characteristics of speech, the M-BEST-RQ model could be adapted to recognize emotional cues in a speaker's voice, enhancing applications in customer service and mental health monitoring.
Speech Enhancement: The model could be utilized to improve the clarity of speech in recordings by separating speech from noise, making it valuable for telecommunication and media production.
Augmented Reality (AR) Applications: In AR environments, the model could facilitate spatial audio rendering, allowing users to perceive sound directionally, thereby enhancing immersion in gaming and virtual meetings.
Multimodal Interaction: The representations could be integrated with other modalities, such as visual data, to improve tasks like gesture recognition or context-aware interaction systems, which are increasingly relevant in smart home and wearable technology.
How could the M-BEST-RQ framework be extended to incorporate additional modalities, such as video or inertial sensors, to further enhance its performance on tasks like speaker localization and activity recognition?
To extend the M-BEST-RQ framework for incorporating additional modalities like video or inertial sensors, a multi-modal architecture can be developed that synergizes audio and visual data.
Multi-Modal Fusion: Implementing a fusion layer that combines audio features from the M-BEST-RQ model with visual features extracted from video inputs would allow the model to leverage complementary information. For instance, visual cues can help disambiguate overlapping speech sources in noisy environments.
Temporal Alignment: Utilizing techniques such as cross-modal attention mechanisms can ensure that audio and visual data are temporally aligned, enhancing the model's ability to recognize activities and localize speakers based on both sound and sight.
Inertial Sensor Integration: Incorporating data from inertial sensors (e.g., accelerometers and gyroscopes) can provide additional context about the wearer's movements and orientation. This information can be particularly useful for activity recognition tasks, allowing the model to distinguish between different types of interactions based on the wearer's physical state.
End-to-End Training: The framework could be designed for end-to-end training, where the model learns to optimize performance across all modalities simultaneously. This would facilitate the discovery of interdependencies between audio, visual, and inertial data, leading to more robust performance in complex scenarios.
Real-Time Processing: To support real-time applications, the architecture should be optimized for low-latency processing, ensuring that the integration of multiple modalities does not hinder the responsiveness of the system.
By adopting these strategies, the M-BEST-RQ framework could significantly enhance its capabilities in speaker localization and activity recognition, making it more versatile for a range of applications in smart glasses and other wearable devices.