[Speex-dev] Voice activity detection

[zmorris at mac.com]

Hey sorry to hijack this thread, but I just remembered a request I  
wanted to make to the speex devs.  I tried using the activity  
detector, but I just couldn't get it working well.  I ended up using  
my own, where I think it just considered voice on if it passed a  
certain threshold (I know, pretty primitive).  I also tried one that  
checked for a signal, like if the strongest frequency was above a  
threshold.  I don't remember what function it was, but it was very  
simple, not an FFT, but like an autocorrelation or something, but it  
didn't work any better than loudness detection.  So I would like to  
use speex's.

Anyway, my request is, can you build in a pre and post buffer into the  
VAD?  In mine, if I detect voice any time between now and say a  
quarter second later, I start sending, and then I wait a half second  
or whatever after I stop detecting.  You pretty much have to have  
this, or people start getting anxious talking over an internet  
stream.  They have to enunciate expressions like "ya probably" because  
the ya isn't detected, only the probably.  By sending a bit of padding  
around the detection, it also prevents the detector from dropping out  
mid-sentence.  It takes it from being a screaming contest over a  
walkie talkie, to a normal telephone conversation.

You might be reluctant to do this, because you have to add in some  
state information instead of just focusing on the current buffer, but  
the quality improvement is enormous.  I'd just like to be able to pass  
a pre and post value to the VAD in milliseconds, defaulting to either  
0 or values similar to what I quoted above.  And I realize this can  
add some delay, but even detecting a single extra syllable makes a  
world of difference.

Well, thanx for your time,

--Zack