CAST-J : Proposal for a Computers-Assisted Speechreading Training System for Japanese

抄録

A Computer-Assisted Speechreading Training system for Japanese (CAST-J) has been designed to train adults with an acquired hearing loss to improve their communicative ability with an effective use of visual speech information. Adults with cochlear implants are the primary target population for CAST-J, as long as they the auditory channel as their primary source of information for speech perception.
The lessons of CAST-J are organized around the concept of viseme. Fifteen visemes of Japanese have been selected for this study : five vowel, seven consonant, and three haku (mora) visemes. There are sixteen lessons, each of which includes sections designed (1) to review previously taught visemes ; (2) to practice the recognition of a new viseme ; (3) to practice new and old visemes by the tracking method ; and (4) to recap the lesson. Two additional lessons are available for pre-and post-training comparison.
The hardware required by CAST-J includes a microcomputer, a video disc player, a high resolution video monitor, and a printer. The system, with its interactive environment, allows the instructor and/or the trainee to select the appropriate speaking rate (fast or slow) for the video, to practice speechreading with or without audio signal, and to skip the optional lessons or part of a lesson, depending on the level of the trainee.