Bringing expertise in linguistics to automatic speech recognition and natural language processing
Speech Recognition and Foreign Language Pronunciation
Laura uses her expertise in phonetics to help build very sensitive speech recognizers in numerous languages. As part of this work, she phonetically transcribes dictionaries and extends phonetic notation for programming applications.
Natural Language Processing
Laura performs corpus analysis and other detailed linguistic studies to build Natural Language Processing Engines. She uses the JSGF programming language to create software which automatically extracts meaning from text. This software can be concerned with finding specific information (Is this person a smoker? How much does he smoke?) to more global concerns about meaning (How certain is this person about what they’re saying?).
Language Education
Laura creates language-learning curricula for use in software which relies on speech recognition in its interface.
Software for Pharmaceutical Names
Laura is the phonetician on numerous studies on the confusability of drug names, pinpointing where errors are likely to occur with drug names that sound similar (Vioxx / Zyvox). This multi-year research has led to the creation of software which analyzes new drug names for potential confusability with existing drug names already on the market. This software can be accessed through the site safedrugnames.com.
Contact Laura Walsh Dickey: laura@soundexpertise.com