Major breakthroughs in Arabic speech cataloguing unveiled in Dubai

Speech cataloguing is a developing technology, which enables organizations and institutions to store and catalogue speech in a similar matter to electronic data. Details of the new findings will be outlined at a public lecture held at the British University in Dubai (BUiD) on Tuesday 30th August.

Researchers at BUiD, the Middle East's first research-based university for post-graduate education, are currently engaged in a leading project to examine the development of Arabic speech databases and in particular how advanced speech recognition technology could be used to determine the content of these recordings.

"New technology and the development of shared standards within the different types of speech database make it possible for us to maintain advanced records of language-based material that can be easily accessed and indexed," said Dr. Habib Talhami, British University in Dubai.

The lecture will examine the development of a speech cataloguing system based on an Arabic authority (library) system, which would enable the efficient retrieval of speech files in both Arabic and English. This system - one of the first of its kind in the world - could provide the basis for a number of new developments within the field.

"It is important that processes and systems are developed which will ensure that this technology can be applied to the Arabic language, so that the historic record can be preserved and also that organizations in this region can fully benefit from new advances," added Dr. Talhami.

Speech database technology has the potential to support a range of applications for both commercial and cultural sectors. Among the potential applications are the capacity to index Arabic language songs, poems and literature, and search through these automatically for particular passages and phrases.

In addition, speech recognition technology could be used to search through recordings of business conversations for particular areas of discussion, and could even have security applications.

"The Automatic Cataloguing of Arabic Speech Databases" lecture will be held in the Auditorium at BUiD, Knowledge Village campus, at 6pm on Tuesday, 30 August.

The open lecture is part of a series of talks organized and sponsored by BuiD, which aim to illuminate new developments in the fields of technology, engineering and education, with a particular emphasis on innovations that are being researched within the Middle East.

Lectures are open to the public free of charge, and students considering a career in technology in particular are strongly urged to attend, to learn more about the high-level research being conducted within Dubai.