Lip reading techniques: A survey

Automated lip reading is the process of converting movements of the lips, face and tongue to speech in real time with enhanced accuracy. Although performance of lip reading systems is still not remotely similar to audio speech recognition, recent developments in processor technology and the massive explosion and ubiquity of computing devices accompanied with increased research in this field has reduced the ambiguities of the labial language, making it possible for free speech-to-text conversion. This paper surveys the field of lip reading and provides a detailed discussion of the trade-offs between various approaches. It gives a reverse chronological topic wise listing of the developments in lip reading systems in recent years. With advancement in computer vision and pattern recognition tools, the efficacy of real time, effective conversion has increased. The major goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive reference source for the researchers involved in lip reading, not just for the esoteric academia but all the people interested in this field regardless of particular application areas.