CALL FOR PAPERS: Speech Recognition of Atypical Speech -- INTERSPEECH 2021 Special Session

CONFERENCE DATES: August 30 - September 3, 2020
INTERSPEECH WEBSITE: https://www.interspeech2021.org/
SPECIAL SESSION WEBSITE: https://sites.google.com/corp/view/atypicalspeech-interspeech2021

DESCRIPTION
While speech recognition systems generally work well on the average population with typical speech characteristics, performance on subgroups with unique speaking patterns is usually significantly worse.

Speech that contains non-standard speech patterns (acoustic-phonetic phonotactic, lexical and prosodic patterns) is particularly challenging, both because of the small population with these speech patterns, and because of the generally higher variance of speech patterns. In the case of dysarthric speech, which is often correlated with mobility or other accessibility limitations, accuracy of existing speech recognition systems is often particularly poor, rendering the technology unusable for many speakers who could benefit the most.

In this oral session, we seek to promote interdisciplinary collaborations between researchers and practitioners addressing this problem, to build community and stimulate research. We invite papers analyzing and improving systems dealing with atypical speech.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
* Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) of atypical speech
* Speech-to-Speech conversion/normalization (e.g. from atypical to typical)
* Voice enhancement and convergence to improve intelligibility of spoken content of atypical speech
* Automated classification of atypical speech conditions
* Robustness of speech processing systems for atypical speech in common application scenarios
* Data augmentation techniques to deal with data sparsity
* Aspects of creating, managing data quality, and sharing of data sets of atypical speech
* Multi-modal integration (e.g. video and voice) and its application


PAPER SUBMISSIONS
Papers have to be submitted following the same schedule and procedure as regular papers of INTERSPEECH 2021. The submitted papers will undergo the same review process by anonymous and independent reviewers.
Submission url: https://www.interspeech2021.org/call-for-papers
Submission deadline: March 26, 2021
Notification of acceptance: June 2, 2021
Camera Ready: June 15, 2021


ORGANIZERS
* Jordan R. Green, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Harvard University
* Michael P. Brenner, Harvard University, Google
* Fadi Biadsy, Google
* Bob MacDonald, Google
* Katrin Tomanek, Google


CONTACT
* For questions related to the Atypical Speech Special Session, please contact atypicalspeech.interspeech2021@gmail.com
* For questions related to the INTERSPEECH submission procedure, please refer to the INTERSPEECH 2021 Contacts page.