The acoustic quality of a concert hall has frequently posed a mysterious puzzle, namely, what physical aspects of the sound field can produce superior sound for the listener. The author has been probing for more than adecade into the subjective qualities preferred for musical and speech sounds. The result of his extensive investigations - the discovery that four and only four independent parameters contribute effectively to good acoustics - is summarized in the present book. The capability of calculating acoustical quality at any seat in a proposed concert hall is a unique and quite useful aspect of Ando's design method. Alternative architectural schemes can be compared based on the number of seats which exceeds a previously accepted minimum standard of acoustical quality.

New material treats such contemporary subjects as automatic speech recognition and speaker verification for banking by computer and privileged (medical, military, diplomatic) information and control access.

The book also focuses on speech and audio compression for mobile communication and the Internet. The importance of subjective quality criteria is stressed.

The book also contains introductions to human monaural and binaural hearing, and the basic concepts of signal analysis.

Beyond speech processing, this revised and extended new edition of Computer Speech gives an overview of natural language technology and presents the nuts and bolts of state-of-the-art speech dialogue systems.

New material treats such contemporary subjects as automatic speech recognition and speaker verification for banking by computer and privileged (medical, military, diplomatic) information and control access.

The book also focuses on speech and audio compression for mobile communication and the Internet. The importance of subjective quality criteria is stressed.

The book also contains introductions to human monaural and binaural hearing, and the basic concepts of signal analysis.

Beyond speech processing, this revised and extended new edition of Computer Speech gives an overview of natural language technology and presents the nuts and bolts of state-of-the-art speech dialogue systems.

"As notable as the book's broad sweep is the author's good-natured, humorous presentation. The willing reader can sit back and enjoy an all-encompassing, irrepressibly enthusiastic tour, ranging from psycho physics to quasicrystals, from gambling strategies to Bach concertos, from the construction of Cantor sets to the design of concert halls." -- "Physics Today"
"Such a richness of topics and amazing splendor of illustrations " -- "Mathematics Magazine
" "An inviting exposition for a literate but not highly scientific audience." -- "American Mathematical Monthly
"This fascinating book explores the connections between chaos theory, physics, biology, and mathematics. Its award-winning computer graphics, optical illusions, and games illustrate the concept of self-similarity, a typical property of fractals. Author Manfred Schroeder -- hailed by "Publishers Weekly" as a modern Lewis Carroll -- conveys memorable insights in the form of puns and puzzles that relate abstract mathematics to everyday experience.
Excellent entertainment for readers with a grasp of algebra and some calculus, this book forms a fine university-level introduction to fractal math. Eight pages of color images clarify the text, along with numerous black-and-white illustrations.