/* ---------- "Cochlear Modelling in Mathematica" ---------- */ I'd like to announce that the following technical report is now available: "Lyon's Cochlear Model," by Malcolm Slaney, Apple Technical Report #13. I'm making an electronic announcement because this report is being published on paper and more importantly as a Mathematica notebook. A Mathematica notebook is an electronic document that includes equations like any other symbolic math package but also explanatory text, graphs and pictures. Since most of the value is in the notebook this paper doesn't really fit into the normal technical publishing scheme. Thus it is a technical report. I think a number of audiences will find this report interesting. 1) Speech Researchers and Brain Modelers - This is the main audience. We are hoping that publishing this report will allow more people to incorporate these ideas into their own research. (We also distribute the C/Fortran source code to implement the models in unix-like environments.) 2) Signal Processors - I think this report illustrates a good way to write, document and teach signal processing algorithms. 3) Mathematicans - Mathematica finally provides something I've been waiting a long time for; the ability to create a truly interactive mathematical report. While the equations are a long way from looking as pretty as Troff or TeX it makes this document come alive. If a reader doesn't understand something then it is easy to plot a new graph or change an existing equation to fit their own viewpoint. 4) Mac Fans (and NeXT too) - I think this is another form of HyperMedia. Unlike Hypercard where buttons are just a navigation tool here the equations and graphs really mean something and users are encouraged to play with the models and see how things change. 5) Mathematica Users - As far as I know this is the first report to be published using Mathematica. I often describe Mathematica as my favorite word processor (great for the shock effect.) This report describes how sound is translated from acoustic pressure waves in the cochlea (inner ear) into nerve firings. There nerve firings are then used by higher level of the brains for speech recognition and other things. This model pretty much treats the cochlea as a black box. We assume a very simple model for the outer and middle ear and then only model the input/output characteristics of the cochlea. We (and other researchers throughout the world) are working on more detailed models so this report should definitely not be taken as the final word. This report is available (for free) either from me or the Apple Corporate Library. We can be reached at: Malcolm Slaney malcolm@apple.com or Corporate Library corp.lib1@applelink.apple.com (408) 974-2400 The report includes a printed copy of the report (64 pages) and a Macintosh floppy. The floppy contains the full text of the report as a Mathematica notebook, a sample Mathematica notebook reader and the C/Fortran source code to implement this model on a Unix-like machine. The notebook reader was graciously provided by Wolfram Research as a means for people without Mathematica to be able to read the notebook on a Macintosh but does not allow the reader to do any mathematics or change any graphs. If you would like a copy of this report please drop me a line. For my own curiosity please indicate which of the interest groups above you fit. Numbers 1 and 2 (speech and signal processing) make me feel good and 3 through 5 make my bosses happy. Be sure to send a paper-mail address since this report is much too large to send through the email systems (>600kbytes compressed just for this notebook.) Enjoy. Malcolm Slaney malcolm@apple.com Research Scientist Advanced Technology Group Apple Computer 20525 Mariani Ave, MS 22-Y Cupertino, CA 95014