A good wake word - Revision history

Thorsten: Hmmm, i always forget references headline.

2021-11-17T21:40:06Z

Hmmm, i always forget references headline.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:40, 17 November 2021
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	=== TODO: Other languages ===		=== TODO: Other languages ===

			== References ==

Thorsten: Style and category adjustments.

2021-11-17T21:35:35Z

Style and category adjustments.

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:35, 17 November 2021
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	[[Category:Wake words]]		[[Category:Wake words]]
	[[Category:STT]]		[[Category:STT]]
			[[Category:Lang-multi]]

	~~'''~~What makes a good wake word?~~'''~~		== What makes a good wake word? ==
			Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a

	~~Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a~~ short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with uncommon phoneme arrangement. Most people are familiar with "''Hey Google''" or "''Hey Siri''" or "''Hey Mycroft''", for instance. "''Alexa''" is a single-word wake word, albeit one with an uncommon with uncommon phoneme arrangement. None of these are more than three syllables. In "Star Trek" the ship computers are frequently addressed by "''Computer''". This is a reasonable choice, but not without some drawbacks. The word computer can come up frequently in modern daily conversations. Its phoneme arrangement is not uncommon, potential leading to false activations. "OK Computer" or "Hey computer" add a bit more complexity to the wake word. Having a wake word over four ~~or potentially five~~ syllables ~~starts to~~ become clunky in ~~its~~ usage.		* short (''over four syllables become clunky in usage'')
			* memorable
	~~While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.~~		* easily pronounced phrase
			* uncommon phoneme arrangement

	~~Modern English contains 44 phonemes: 24 consonants and 20 vowels. The vowel sounds have two groups based on mouth position~~, ~~monophthongs and diphthongs~~. ~~Simplest way to tell them apart is the e in~~ "~~thee~~" is a ~~monophthong, and the~~ -~~oy in "boy" is a diphthong. The most common American English phoneme is the schwa~~, ~~which has~~ an ~~"uh" sound~~. ~~It can be part~~ of ~~any vowel's pronunciation, like the first a in~~ "~~Alexa~~" or the ~~e in~~ "~~the~~". ~~A [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5 2004 paper] contains~~ a ~~helpful list of the most common phonemes. CMU also has their handy [pronouncing dictionary](http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict) to help decipher phonemes~~. The ~~CMU dictionary file~~ can ~~also be found [https://github~~.~~com/Alexir/CMUdict/blob/master/cmudict-0.7b here]~~. ~~Utilizing those and other resources you can then start~~ to ~~determine~~ the ~~viability of your~~ wake word~~'s phoneme structure~~.		Most people are familiar with "''Hey Google''" or "''Hey Siri''" or "''Hey Mycroft''", for instance. "''Alexa''" is a single-word wake word, albeit one with an uncommon with uncommon phoneme arrangement. None of these are more than three syllables. In "Star Trek" the ship computers are frequently addressed by "''Computer''". This is a reasonable choice, but not without some drawbacks. The word computer can come up frequently in modern daily conversations. Its phoneme arrangement is not uncommon, potential leading to false activations. "''OK Computer''" or "''Hey computer''" add a bit more complexity to the wake word.

	If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.		== Wake word tips ==
			While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.

			=== English ===
			Modern English contains 44 phonemes: 24 consonants and 20 vowels. The vowel sounds have two groups based on mouth position, monophthongs and diphthongs. Simplest way to tell them apart is the e in "thee" is a monophthong, and the -oy in "boy" is a diphthong. The most common American English phoneme is the schwa, which has an "uh" sound. It can be part of any vowel's pronunciation, like the first a in "Alexa" or the e in "the". A 2004 paper<ref>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5</ref> contains a helpful list of the most common phonemes. CMU also has their handy pronouncing dictionary<ref>http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict</ref> to help decipher phonemes. The CMU dictionary file can also be found here<ref>https://github.com/Alexir/CMUdict/blob/master/cmudict-0.7b</ref>. Utilizing those and other resources you can then start to determine the viability of your wake word's phoneme structure.

			If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "''Hey Mycroft''" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.

	The accuracy of your listening engine in conjunction with your wake word should minimize false negatives for your target audience first, and minimize false positives second.		The accuracy of your listening engine in conjunction with your wake word should minimize false negatives for your target audience first, and minimize false positives second.

			=== TODO: Other languages ===

Thorsten: Adding category STT

2021-11-16T22:11:43Z

Adding category STT

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:11, 17 November 2021
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	[[Category:Wake words]]		[[Category:Wake words]]
			[[Category:STT]]

	'''What makes a good wake word?'''		'''What makes a good wake word?'''

Thorsten: Added page to "Wake words" category

2021-11-10T19:54:43Z

Added page to "Wake words" category

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:54, 10 November 2021
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			[[Category:Wake words]]

	'''What makes a good wake word?'''		'''What makes a good wake word?'''

Thorsten: Small formatting additions.

2021-11-10T19:50:51Z

Small formatting additions.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:50, 10 November 2021
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	What makes a good wake word?		'''What makes a good wake word?'''

	Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with uncommon phoneme arrangement. Most people are familiar with "Hey Google" or "Hey Siri" or "Hey Mycroft", for instance. "Alexa" is a single-word wake word, albeit one with an uncommon with uncommon phoneme arrangement. None of these are more than three syllables. In "Star Trek" the ship computers are frequently addressed by "Computer". This is a reasonable choice, but not without some drawbacks. The word computer can come up frequently in modern daily conversations. Its phoneme arrangement is not uncommon, potential leading to false activations. "OK Computer" or "Hey computer" add a bit more complexity to the wake word. Having a wake word over four or potentially five syllables starts to become clunky in its usage.		Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with uncommon phoneme arrangement. Most people are familiar with "''Hey Google''" or "''Hey Siri''" or "''Hey Mycroft''", for instance. "''Alexa''" is a single-word wake word, albeit one with an uncommon with uncommon phoneme arrangement. None of these are more than three syllables. In "Star Trek" the ship computers are frequently addressed by "''Computer''". This is a reasonable choice, but not without some drawbacks. The word computer can come up frequently in modern daily conversations. Its phoneme arrangement is not uncommon, potential leading to false activations. "OK Computer" or "Hey computer" add a bit more complexity to the wake word. Having a wake word over four or potentially five syllables starts to become clunky in its usage.

	While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.		While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.

72.128.154.254 at 09:38, 10 November 2021

2021-11-10T09:38:06Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:38, 10 November 2021
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	If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.		If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.

			The accuracy of your listening engine in conjunction with your wake word should minimize false negatives for your target audience first, and minimize false positives second.

72.128.154.254 at 09:29, 10 November 2021

2021-11-10T09:29:37Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:29, 10 November 2021
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	While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.		While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.

	Modern English contains 44 phonemes: 24 consonants and 20 vowels. The vowel sounds have two groups based on mouth position, monophthongs and diphthongs. Simplest way to tell them apart is the e in "thee" is a monophthong, and the -oy in "boy" is a diphthong. The most common American English phoneme is the schwa, which has an "uh" sound. It can be part of any vowel's pronunciation, like the first a in "Alexa" or the e in "the". A [~~2004 paper](~~https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5) contains a helpful list of the most common phonemes. CMU also has their handy [pronouncing dictionary](http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict) to help decipher phonemes. The CMU dictionary file can also be found [~~here](~~https://github.com/Alexir/CMUdict/blob/master/cmudict-0.7b). Utilizing those and other resources you can then start to determine the viability of your wake word's phoneme structure.		Modern English contains 44 phonemes: 24 consonants and 20 vowels. The vowel sounds have two groups based on mouth position, monophthongs and diphthongs. Simplest way to tell them apart is the e in "thee" is a monophthong, and the -oy in "boy" is a diphthong. The most common American English phoneme is the schwa, which has an "uh" sound. It can be part of any vowel's pronunciation, like the first a in "Alexa" or the e in "the". A [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5 2004 paper] contains a helpful list of the most common phonemes. CMU also has their handy [pronouncing dictionary](http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict) to help decipher phonemes. The CMU dictionary file can also be found [https://github.com/Alexir/CMUdict/blob/master/cmudict-0.7b here]. Utilizing those and other resources you can then start to determine the viability of your wake word's phoneme structure.

	If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.		If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.

72.128.154.254: Created page with "What makes a good wake word? Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with..."

2021-11-10T09:28:23Z

Created page with "What makes a good wake word? Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with..."

New page

What makes a good wake word?

Several factors contribute to the overall quality and usability of a wake word. Ideally it is a short, memorable, easily pronounced phrase, with uncommon phoneme arrangement. Most people are familiar with "Hey Google" or "Hey Siri" or "Hey Mycroft", for instance. "Alexa" is a single-word wake word, albeit one with an uncommon with uncommon phoneme arrangement. None of these are more than three syllables. In "Star Trek" the ship computers are frequently addressed by "Computer". This is a reasonable choice, but not without some drawbacks. The word computer can come up frequently in modern daily conversations. Its phoneme arrangement is not uncommon, potential leading to false activations. "OK Computer" or "Hey computer" add a bit more complexity to the wake word. Having a wake word over four or potentially five syllables starts to become clunky in its usage.

While this document is primarily about English, the concepts can be applied to many other languages.

Modern English contains 44 phonemes: 24 consonants and 20 vowels. The vowel sounds have two groups based on mouth position, monophthongs and diphthongs. Simplest way to tell them apart is the e in "thee" is a monophthong, and the -oy in "boy" is a diphthong. The most common American English phoneme is the schwa, which has an "uh" sound. It can be part of any vowel's pronunciation, like the first a in "Alexa" or the e in "the". A [2004 paper](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1207/s15548430jlr3601_5) contains a helpful list of the most common phonemes. CMU also has their handy [pronouncing dictionary](http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict) to help decipher phonemes. The CMU dictionary file can also be found [here](https://github.com/Alexir/CMUdict/blob/master/cmudict-0.7b). Utilizing those and other resources you can then start to determine the viability of your wake word's phoneme structure.

If your wake word has a lot of rhyme potential, this is a sign it's probably going to have a lot of potential false activations. This can be partially mitigated with a quality dataset. The cadence of the wake word should also be as unique as possible. "Hey Mycroft" frequently has false activations when someone says "Microsoft". For these, finding cadence patterns and matching that to other phrases/words to build the dataset. The pronunciation of your wake word would ideally be smooth. Adding "hey" to the front of things is easy choice as the -ey phoneme leaves the mouth fairly neutral and ready to say another phoneme. Words like "axlotl" are definitely uncommon and unique, but not as smooth or easy to pronounce.