FB pixel

Baidu researchers compare voice cloning methods

 

Scientists with Baidu Research’s Deep Voice project has published a new study on the relative merits of “speaker adaptation” and “speaker encoding” as voice cloning methods.

Neural Voice Cloning with a Few Samples” (PDF) suggests that the different strengths of the two methods make each one appropriate for certain applications.

In speaker adaptation, a multi-speaker generative model is fine-tuned by applying backpropogation-based optimization to several cloning samples. This method enables speaker representation with a lower number of parameters, with the trade-offs of longer cloning time and lower audio quality.

Speaker encoding, in which a separate model is trained to directly infer a new speaker embedding, involves retrieving speaker identity information from each audio sample with “time-and-frequency-domain processing blocks.” This enables fast cloning time with a low number of parameters, which the researchers say makes it favorable for low-resource deployments.

The researchers expect voice cloning to be used for personalizing human-machine interactions. With voice authentication applications increasing in number and scale, it could also force those applications to use other methods and modalities, such as behavioral biometrics, to supplement voice recognition.

Article Topics

 |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Deepfake ecosystem develops around apps, services as detection fights to keep pace

Deepfakes are the topic du jour in the biometrics and identity verification industries, which are increasingly involved in the global…

 

Surveillance tech firm Auror raises NZ$82M for global expansion

New Zealand crime intelligence platform Auror has raised NZ$82 million (roughly US$48.7 million) that will be used to fund its…

 

Airport biometrics integrations bring together sector’s leaders, new players

SITA has concluded an integration of newly-acquired IPS, just as its airport biometric scanners roll out in Thailand. Details are…

 

Stricter retail age verification on the agenda as UK fails to curb underage vaping

A survey of vape users in Northern Ireland is causing alarm in the UK, with some observers warning that a…

 

Facial recognition deployments must factor in risk v. reward: report

Some deployments of facial recognition technology are more publicly acceptable than others. This, according to a new article published in…

 

Mastercard brings passkeys for ecommerce payments to UAE

Mastercard will roll out its passkey-enabled Click to Pay ecommerce feature in the United Arab Emirates through a partnership with…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events