Better sound conversion

Scientists have developed a better way of converting sounds into digital signals.

Taking notes on the way sounds are processed in the brain, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) researchers have found a sound conversion that could improve cochlear implants, digital audio players, mobile telephones and many other devices.
 
Published in the 23 February issue of Nature, developers Evan Smith and Michael Lewicki used a ‘spike code’ method that is more efficient than current algorithms.
 
That is, only one third to one fourth as much information was needed to achieve the same sound fidelity.
 
By studying the computational principles of the brain’s ability to represent and manage complex, real world patterns, they could focus on processing sound and sight in particular.
 
Lewicki told Physorg.com: “We're excited to have developed a theoretical model that gives new insight into how the brain codes sound.
 
“This is a major advance in theoretical neuroscience because it's one of the few times where a theory has explained basic neural data.
 
"With our simple code and the right ensemble of acoustic signals, you can understand how sound is encoded for transmission to the brain at an astonishing level of detail,” he added.
 
These findings could result in the development of cochlear implants that compensate for certain types of inner ear nerve damage.
 
The scientists are confident that spike coding could improve such devices and let electronic signals communicate with the brain that are close to a natural and more intelligible sound.
 
Kenneth Whang, the programme manager of the company who funded the work, NSF, said that understanding the brain’s coding strategies may result in more efficient systems for processing speech and other sounds.
 
Further insight suggests that the acoustic structure of human speech is similar to the natural sounds the mammal hearing system evolved to distinguish before language existed
 
Speech and natural sounds produce the same optimal code – for instance, sounds that alert an animal to danger, such as breaking twigs, are like consonants where animal vocalisations are like vowels.

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