Methods for training a speech recognition system

A method for re-training a speaker-independent speech recognition system with respect to a word of an application vocabulary, wherein a generic voice template is assigned to said word in the application vocabulary, the method comprising:

• acquiring from a user a speech sample of said word using the speaker-independent speech recognition system;
• comparing, via at least one processor, the speech sample to generic voice templates in the application vocabulary;
• and
• if the speech sample matches more than one of the generic voice templates in the application vocabulary, then:
• prompting, via the at least one processor, the user to create a custom voice template for a substitute word,
• training, via the at least one processor, the speaker-independent speech recognition system on the substitute word to create the custom voice template for the substitute word, and
• replacing, via the at least one processor, in the application vocabulary the generic voice template for said word with the custom voice template for the substitute word;
• and
• otherwise, if the speech sample matches the generic voice template for said word, using, via the at least one processor, the generic voice template for the word;
• wherein, during the re-training, the comparison of the speech sample of said word to generic voice templates in the application vocabulary is performed until the custom voice template for the substitute word which is different from the generic voice templates and having no template similarity with the generic voice templates is created;
• wherein the re-training is initiated after an initial enrollment training performed for the speech recognition system before use based on an outcome of a performance evaluation performed periodically by the speech recognition system;
• and
• wherein the performance evaluation is associated with recognition performance for the word.

A method for re-training a speech recognition system with respect to a word of an application vocabulary, wherein a voice template is assigned to said word in the application vocabulary, the method comprising:

• acquiring from a user a speech sample of said word using the speech recognition system;
• comparing, via at least one processor, the speech sample to voice templates in the application vocabulary;
• and
• if the speech sample matches more than one of the voice templates in the application vocabulary, then:
• prompting, via the at least one processor, the user to re-train the speech recognition system using an alternate word in place of said word, wherein the alternate word is a variant of said word;
• training, via the at least one processor, the speech recognition system on the alternate word to create a voice template for the alternate word;
• and
• replacing, via the at least one processor, in the application vocabulary the voice template for said word with the voice template for the alternate word;
• wherein, during the re-training, the comparison of the speech sample of to the voice templates in the application vocabulary is performed until a voice template corresponding to the alternate word which is different from the voice templates of words in the application vocabulary and having no template similarity with the voice templates of words in the application library is created;
• wherein the re-training is initiated after an initial enrollment training performed for the speech recognition system before use based on an outcome of a performance evaluation performed periodically by the speech recognition system;
• and
• wherein the performance evaluation is associated with recognition performance for the spoken word.