| 5-3-2 | VocalTractLab 2.0 : A tool for articulatory speech synthesis 
 VocalTractLab 2.0 : A tool for articulatory speech synthesis 
 It is my pleasure to announce the release of the new major version 2.0 of VocalTractLab. VocalTractLab is an articulatory speech synthesizer and a tool to visualize and explore the mechanism of speech production with regard to articulation, acoustics, and control. It is available from http://www.vocaltractlab.de/index.php?page=vocaltractlab-download .
 Compared to version 1.0, the new version brings many improvements in terms of the implemented models of the vocal tract, the vocal folds, the acoustic simulation, and articulatory control, as well as in terms of the user interface. Most importantly, the new version comes together with a manual.
 
 If you like, give it a try. Reports on bugs and any other feedback are welcome.
 
 Peter Birkholz
 
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| 5-3-4 | Bob signal-processing and machine learning toolbox (v.1.2..0) 
 The release 1.2.0 of the Bob
 signal-processing and machine learning toolbox is available .
 Bob provides both efficient implementations of several machine     learning algorithms as well as a framework to help researchers to     publish reproducible research.
 
 
     The previous release of Bob was providing:
 * image, video and audio IO
 interfaces such as jpg, avi, wav,
 * database
 accessors such as FRGC, Labelled Face in the Wild, and many     others,
 *       image processing: Local Binary Patterns (LBPs), Gabor Jets,     SIFT,
 * machines
 and trainers such as Support Vector Machines (SVMs), k-Means,     Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs), Inter-Session Variability modeling     (ISV), Joint Factor Analysis (JFA), Probabilistic Linear     Discriminant Analysis (PLDA), Bayesian intra/extra (personal)     classifier,
 
 The new release of Bob has brought the following features and/or     improvements, such as:
 * Unified implementation of Local Binary Patterns (LBPs),
 * Histograms of Oriented Gradients (HOG) implementation,
 * Total variability (i-vector) implementation,
 * Conjugate gradient based-implementation for logistic regression,
 * Improved multi-layer perceptrons implementation (Back-propagation     can now be easily used in combination with any optimizer -- i.e     L-BFGS),
 * Pseudo-inverse-based method for Linear Discriminant Analysis,
 * Covariance-based method for Principal Component Analysis,
 * Whitening and within-class covariance normalization techniques,
 * Module for object detection and keypoint localization     (bob.visioner),
 * Module for       audio processing including feature extraction such as LFCC and     MFCC,
 * Improved extensions (satellite packages), that now support both     Python and C++ code, within an easy to use framework,
 * Improved documentation and add new tutorials,
 * Support for Intel's MKL (in addition to ATLAS),
 * Extend supported platforms (Arch Linux).
 
 This release represents a major milestone in Bob with plenty of     functionality improvements (>640       commits in total) and plenty of bug
 fixes.
 • Sources and       Documentation
 • Binary packages:
 •     Ubuntu: 10.04, 12.04, 12.10 and 13.04
 • For     Mac OSX: works with 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion) and 10.8     (Mountain Lion)
 
 For instructions on how to install pre-packaged version on Ubuntu or     OSX, consult our quick       installation instructions  (N.B. OS X macport has not yet been     upgraded. This will be done very soon. cf. https://trac.macports.org/ticket/39831 ).
 
 
 Best regards,
 Elie Khoury (on Behalf of the Biometric
 Group at Idiap lead by Sebastien
 Marcel)
 
 
 ---
 -- ------------------- Dr. Elie Khoury Post Doctorant Biometric Person Recognition Group IDIAP Research Institute (Switzerland) Tel : +41 27 721 77 23 
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