Dynamic sound stream formation based on continuity of spectral change

A proposed computational model that dynamically tracks and predicts changes in spectral shapes was verified in both psychophysical experiments and engineering applications. The results of the psychophysical experiments confirmed the model's validity and suggested that 'the rule of good continuity' also held in audition. Furthermore, a stream segregation system was implemented with the proposed model. It was composed of simultaneous grouping and sequential integration processes. An effective integration of two processes was performed by dynamically controlling the sequential integration based on the reliability of the output of the simultaneous grouping. Finally, we applied this system to phonemic restoration and segregation of two simultaneous utterances, showing the proposed model to be effective for such engineering applications. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.