Intelligent Layer of Two-Way Voice Communication of the Technological Device with the Operator Wojciech Kacalak and Maciej Majewski Department of Mechanical Engineering Technical University of Koszalin Raclawicka 15-17 75-620 Koszalin, Poland {kacalakw,mmaj}@tu.koszalin.pl Abstract. In this paper there is a review of the selected issues on re- cognition and safety estimation of voice commands in natural language given by the operator of the technological device. A view is offered of the complexity of the recognition process of words and commands using neu- ral networks made of a few layers of neurons. The paper presents some research results of speech recognition and automatic command recogni- tion with artificial neural networks. The first part of the paper introduces a new conception of an intelligent layer of two-way voice communication of the technological device with the operator and discusses the general topics and issues. The second part is devoted to a discussion of more spe- cific topics of the automatic command recognition and safety estimation that have led to interesting new approaches and techniques. 1 Introduction Speech is the natural mode of communication for humans. It is a singularly effi- cient way for humans to express ideas and desires. Therefore, it is not surprising that we have always wanted to communicate with and command various tech- nical devices by voice. Voice control is particularly appealing when the human’s hands or eyes are otherwise occupied. In the future, speech unquestionably will become the primary means of communication between humans and machines. The advantages of intelligent two-way voice communication of the technolo- gical devices with the operator include the following [KM03b]: 1. More resistance from the operator’s errors and more efficient supervising of process with the chosen level of supervision automation. 2. Elimination of scarcities of the typical co-operation between the operator and the technological device. 3. Reaching a higher level of organising realization of a technological process equipped with the intelligent two-way voice communication system, which is relevant for its efficiency and production humanization. 4. No need of an operator being present at the work stand by the technological device (any distance from the technological device) [O’S00]. L. Rutkowski et al. (Eds.): ICAISC 2004, LNAI 3070, pp. 610–615, 2004. c  Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2004