NasoVoce: A Nose-Mounted Low-Audibility Speech Interface for Always-Available Speech Interaction

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Authors: Jun Rekimoto, Yu Nishimura, Bojian Yang
Cited by: 1
References: 45

Abstract

Silent and whispered speech offer promise for always-available voice interaction with AI, yet existing methods struggle to balance vocabulary size, wearability, silence, and noise robustness. We present NasoVoce, a nose-bridge–mounted interface that integrates a microphone and a vibration sensor. Positioned at the nasal pads of smart glasses, it unobtrusively captures both acoustic and vibration signals. The nasal bridge, close to the mouth, allows access to bone- and skin-conducted speech and enables reliable capture of low-volume utterances such as whispered speech. While the microphone captures high-quality audio, it is highly sensitive to environmental noise. Conversely, the vibration sensor is robust to noise but yields lower signal quality. By fusing these complementary inputs, NasoVoce generates high-quality speech robust against interference. Evaluation with Whisper Large-v2, PESQ, STOI, and MUSHRA ratings confirms improved recognition and quality. NasoVoce demonstrates the feasibility of a practical interface for always-available, continuous, and discreet AI voice conversations.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Speech and Audio Processing Speech Recognition and Synthesis Face recognition and analysis

Publication details

Journal / source
Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher
ACM
Pages
1–11
Publication date
13 April 2026