Fujitsu 2009 Annual Report Download - page 53

“Clear Voice”
—Easy Listening by Amplifying Only the Speaker’s Voice
“Clear Voice” is a voice processing technology that exploits the dif-
ference in frequency between voices and background noise to
make the speaker’s voice easier to hear even in noisy places. When
ambient noise is detected, the voice of the opposite party is auto-
matically amplified. When the opposite party’s voice is low, the
volume of the voice is raised automatically. “Clear Voice” technology
is used not only in the Raku-Raku Phone, but also by NTT DOCOMO’s
Formula Nippon car racing team
DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING
for voice communications between
the driver and the pit crew, an appli-
cation that testifies to the power of
the technology.
“Slow Voice”
—Changing Conversation Speed Without Changing Voice Pitch
Based on proprietary Fujitsu technologies, the “Slow Voice” feature
enhances listener comprehension by adjusting the output of the
opposite party’s voice so that it can be heard more slowly. Of
course, simply slowing the speed of the voice would lower the
pitch similar to the slow playback of a recording, making it sound
completely different. Meanwhile, slowing the voice speed only on
the listener’s side would simply prolong the comprehension time,
resulting in unnatural pauses in the conversation. Fujitsu brought
three technologies to bear in overcoming these problems and
improving phone conversation quality. The first, voice expansion
technology, preserves voice pitch even when slowing voice output
speed; the second, pause detection technology, detects pauses
between words; and the third, delay control technology, uses the
detected pauses to compensate for time-lag resulting from the
slower voice output to give a more natural conversation flow. The
combination of these three technologies produces a natural, easy-
to-hear conversation.
“Double Microphone”
—Conveying the Speaker’s Voice More Clearly
“Double Microphone” is a noise cancellation technology that distin-
guishes between the speaker’s voice and ambient noise and cancels
the noise, leaving only the speaker’s voice to be clearly conveyed to
the opposite party. Enabling this are two microphones, one on each
side of the handset. This configuration utilizes the time difference in
the arrival of sound waves to each microphone to identify any sound
from a direction other than that of the speaker’s voice as noise, and
lower the volume of the detected noise.
These Fujitsu-developed voice technologies have won wide
industry acclaim. In particular, “Clear Voice” and “Slow Voice” were
awarded the 55th OHM Technology Award in November 2007 by
The Promotion Foundation for Electrical Science and Engineering,
an organization whose members have contributed over the years to
the development of electrical science and engineering in Japan.
The technologies found in the Raku-Raku Phone go beyond
voice communications. With a commitment to making the phone
easy to use from all aspects, Fujitsu has also included an easy-view
display and with easy-to-read text, a more intuitive key layout, and
voice input email functions. Fujitsu’s
customer surveys indicate a high
degree of satisfaction with the
Raku-Raku Phone among custom-
ers. Fujitsu, in cooperation with NTT
DOCOMO, will continue to maxi-
mize ease of use and provide prod-
ucts that satisfy an ever-wider range
of customers.
The Raku-Raku Phone Development Challenge
—Uncompromising Cutting-Edge Voice Technology
The Raku-Raku Phone that Fujitsu started supplying to NTT DOCOMO, Inc. in 2001 has become one of Fujitsu’s most success-
ful products. Over the years, this phone lineup has expanded to include 13 different models, with cumulative sales volume
topping 15 million units. The Raku-Raku Phone was developed with a commitment to universal design to make it easy for
anyone to use. In fact, the phone embodies the determination of its developers to provide customers with an exceptionally
easy-to-use phone by combining cutting-edge Fujitsu technologies based on ergonomics, with a careful survey of customer
needs, and a functional design that optimizes ease of use. The following is an introduction to Fujitsu’s proprietary voice
technologies that figure prominently in the success of the Raku-Raku Phone.
DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION
RACING during a race
Raku-Raku Phone Basic II
Product managers exchange opin-
ions in their efforts to make the Raku-
Raku Phone even easier to use
How Pause Detection and Delay Control Work
Normal
Slow Voice
activated
Hello This is Yamada
Pause Pause
I’ll call back tomorrow
Hello This is Yamada I’ll call back tomorrow
Time delay adjusted to
at most 1 second
Time-lag recovered during pauses
Pauses within the conversation accurately
detected even with ambient noise present
PERFORMANCE Research & Development
051
ANNUAL REPORT 2009
FUJITSU LIMITED