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Rébecca Kleinberger: Why you don't like the sound of your own voice
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Your voice is indistinguishable from how other people see you, but your relationship with it is far from obvious. Rébecca Kleinberger studies how we use and understand our voices and the voices of others. She explains why you may not like the sound of your own voice on recordings, the differences between your outward, inward and inner voices -- and the extraordinary things you communicate without being aware of it.
Rébecca Kleinberger - Voice expert
Rébecca Kleinberger is a voice expert pursuing research as a PhD candidate in the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future group. Full bio
Rébecca Kleinberger is a voice expert pursuing research as a PhD candidate in the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future group. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
If you ask evolutionary biologists
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when did humans become humans,
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some of them will say that,
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well, at some point
we started standing on our feet,
we started standing on our feet,
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became biped and became
the masters of our environment.
the masters of our environment.
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Others will say that because our brain
started growing much bigger,
started growing much bigger,
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that we were able to have
much more complex cognitive processes.
much more complex cognitive processes.
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And others might argue
that it's because we developed language
that it's because we developed language
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that allowed us to evolve as a species.
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Interestingly, those three
phenomena are all connected.
phenomena are all connected.
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We are not sure how or in which order,
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but they are all linked
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with the change of shape of a little bone
in the back of your neck
in the back of your neck
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that changed the angle
between our head and our body.
between our head and our body.
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That means we were able to stand upright
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but also for our brain
to evolve in the back
to evolve in the back
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and for our voice box to grow
from seven centimeters for primates
from seven centimeters for primates
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to 11 and up to 17 centimetres for humans.
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And this is called
the descent of the larynx.
the descent of the larynx.
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And the larynx is the site of your voice.
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When baby humans are born today,
their larynx is not descended yet.
their larynx is not descended yet.
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That only happens
at about three months old.
at about three months old.
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So, metaphorically, each of us here
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has relived the evolution
of our whole species.
of our whole species.
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And talking about babies,
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when you were starting to develop
in your mother's womb,
in your mother's womb,
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the first sensation that you had
coming from the outside world,
coming from the outside world,
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at only three weeks old,
when you were about the size of a shrimp,
when you were about the size of a shrimp,
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were through the tactile sensation
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coming from the vibrations
of your mother's voice.
of your mother's voice.
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So, as we can see, the human voice
is quite meaningful and important
is quite meaningful and important
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at the level of the species,
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at the level of the society --
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this is how we communicate
and create bonds,
and create bonds,
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and at the personal
and interpersonal levels --
and interpersonal levels --
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with our voice, we share much more
than words and data,
than words and data,
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we share basically who we are.
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And our voice is indistinguishable
from how other people see us.
from how other people see us.
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It is a mask that we wear in society.
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But our relationship with our own voice
is far from obvious.
is far from obvious.
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We rarely use our voice for ourselves;
we use it as a gift to give to others.
we use it as a gift to give to others.
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It is how we touch each other.
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It's a dialectical grooming.
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But what do we think about our own voice?
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So please raise your hand
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if you don't like the sound of your voice
when you hear it on a recording machine.
when you hear it on a recording machine.
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(Laughter)
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Yeah, thank you, indeed,
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most people report not liking
the sound of their voice recording.
the sound of their voice recording.
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So what does that mean?
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Let's try to understand that
in the next 10 minutes.
in the next 10 minutes.
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I'm a researcher at the MIT Media Lab,
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part of the Opera of the Future group,
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and my research
focuses on the relationship
focuses on the relationship
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people have with their own voice
and with the voices of others.
and with the voices of others.
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I study what we can learn
from listening to voices,
from listening to voices,
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from the various fields,
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from neurology to biology,
cognitive sciences, linguistics.
cognitive sciences, linguistics.
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In our group we create
tools and experiences
tools and experiences
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to help people gain a better
applied understanding of their voice
applied understanding of their voice
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in order to reduce the biases,
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to become better listeners,
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to create more healthy relationships
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or just to understand themselves better.
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And this really has to come
with a holistic approach on the voice.
with a holistic approach on the voice.
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Because, think about all
the applications and implications
the applications and implications
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that the voice may have,
as we discover more about it.
as we discover more about it.
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Your voice is a very complex phenomenon.
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It requires a synchronization
of more than 100 muscles in your body.
of more than 100 muscles in your body.
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And by listening to the voice,
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we can understand possible failures
of what happens inside.
of what happens inside.
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For example:
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listening to very specific
types of turbulences
types of turbulences
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and nonlinearity of the voice
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can help predict
very early stages of Parkinson's,
very early stages of Parkinson's,
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just through a phone call.
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Listening to the breathness of the voice
can help detect heart disease.
can help detect heart disease.
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And we also know that the changes of tempo
inside individual words
inside individual words
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is a very good marker of depression.
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Your voice is also very linked
with your hormone levels.
with your hormone levels.
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Third parties listening to female voices
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were able to very accurately
place the speaker
place the speaker
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on their menstrual cycle.
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Just with acoustic information.
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And now with technology
listening to us all the time,
listening to us all the time,
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Alexa from Amazon Echo
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might be able to predict
if you're pregnant
if you're pregnant
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even before you know it.
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So think about --
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(Laughter)
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Think about the ethical
application of that.
application of that.
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Your voice is also very linked
to how you create relationships.
to how you create relationships.
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You have a different voice
for every person you talk to.
for every person you talk to.
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If I take a little snippet
of your voice and I analyze it,
of your voice and I analyze it,
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I can know whether you're talking
to your mother, to your brother,
to your mother, to your brother,
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your friend or your boss.
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We can also use, as a predictor,
the vocal posture.
the vocal posture.
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Meaning, how you decide to place
your voice when you talk to someone.
your voice when you talk to someone.
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And you vocal posture,
when you talk to your spouse,
when you talk to your spouse,
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can help predict not only if,
but also when you will divorce.
but also when you will divorce.
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So there is a lot to learn
from listening to voices.
from listening to voices.
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And I believe this has to start
with understanding
with understanding
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that we have more than one voice.
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So, I'm going to talk
about three voices that most of us posses,
about three voices that most of us posses,
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in a model of what I call the mask.
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So when you look at the mask,
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what you see is a projection
of a character.
of a character.
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Let's call that your outward voice.
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This is also the most classic way
to think about the voice,
to think about the voice,
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it's a way of projecting
yourself in the world.
yourself in the world.
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The mechanism for this projection
is well understood.
is well understood.
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Your lungs contract your diaphragm
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and that creates a self-sustained
vibration of your vocal fold,
vibration of your vocal fold,
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that creates a sound.
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And then the way you open and close
the cavities in you mouth,
the cavities in you mouth,
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your vocal tract is going to
transform the sound.
transform the sound.
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So everyone has the same mechanism.
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But voices are quite unique.
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It's because very subtle differences
in size, physiology, in hormone levels
in size, physiology, in hormone levels
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are going to make very subtle
differences in your outward voice.
differences in your outward voice.
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And your brain is very good
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at picking up those subtle differences
from other people's outward voices.
from other people's outward voices.
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In our lab, we are working
on teaching machines
on teaching machines
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to understand those subtle differences.
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And we use deep learning to create
a real-time speaker identification system
a real-time speaker identification system
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to help raise awareness
on the use of the shared vocal space --
on the use of the shared vocal space --
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so who talks and who never
talks during meetings --
talks during meetings --
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to increase group intelligence.
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And one of the difficulties with that
is that your voice is also not static.
is that your voice is also not static.
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We already said that it changes
with every person you talk to
with every person you talk to
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but it also changes generally
throughout your life.
throughout your life.
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At the beginning
and at the end of the journey,
and at the end of the journey,
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male and female voices are very similar.
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It's very hard to distinguish
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the voice of a very your girl
from the voice of a very young boy.
from the voice of a very young boy.
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But in between, your voice
becomes a marker of your fluid identity.
becomes a marker of your fluid identity.
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Generally, for male voices
there's a big change at puberty.
there's a big change at puberty.
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And then for female voices,
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there is a change at each pregnancy
and a big change at menopause.
and a big change at menopause.
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So all of that is the voice
other people hear when you talk.
other people hear when you talk.
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So why is it that we're so
unfamiliar with it?
unfamiliar with it?
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Why is it that it's not
the voice that we hear?
the voice that we hear?
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So, let's think about it.
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When you wear a mask,
you actually don't see the mask.
you actually don't see the mask.
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And when you try to observe it,
what you will see is inside of the mask.
what you will see is inside of the mask.
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And that's your inward voice.
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So to understand why it's different,
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let's try to understand the mechanism
of perception of this inward voice.
of perception of this inward voice.
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Because your body has many ways
of filtering it differently
of filtering it differently
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from the outward voice.
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So to perceive this voice,
it first has to travel to your ears.
it first has to travel to your ears.
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And your outward voice
travels through the air
travels through the air
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while your inward voice
travels through your bones.
travels through your bones.
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This is called bone conduction.
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Because of this, your inward voice
is going to sound in a lower register
is going to sound in a lower register
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and also more musically harmonical
than your outward voice.
than your outward voice.
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Once it travels there,
it has to access your inner ear.
it has to access your inner ear.
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And there's this other mechanism
taking place here.
taking place here.
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It's a mechanical filter,
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it's a little partition
that comes and protects your inner ear
that comes and protects your inner ear
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each time you produce a sound.
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So it also reduces what you hear.
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And then there is a third filter,
it's a biological filter.
it's a biological filter.
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Your cochlea -- it's a part of your
inner ear that processes the sound --
inner ear that processes the sound --
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is made out of living cells.
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And those living cells
are going to trigger differently
are going to trigger differently
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according to how often
they hear the sound.
they hear the sound.
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It's a habituation effect.
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So because of this,
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as your voice is the sound
you hear the most in your life,
you hear the most in your life,
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you actually hear it less
than other sounds.
than other sounds.
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Finally, we have a fourth filter.
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It's a neurological filter.
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Neurologists found out recently
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that when you open your mouth
to create a sound,
to create a sound,
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your own auditory cortex shuts down.
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So you hear your voice
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but your brain actually never listens
to the sound of your voice.
to the sound of your voice.
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Well, evolutionarily
that might make sense,
that might make sense,
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because we know cognitively
what we are going to sound like
what we are going to sound like
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so maybe we don't need
to spend energy analyzing the signal.
to spend energy analyzing the signal.
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And this is called a corollary discharge
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and it happens for every motion
that your body does.
that your body does.
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The exact definition
of a corollary discharge
of a corollary discharge
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is a copy of a motor command
that is sent by the brain.
that is sent by the brain.
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This copy doesn't create any motion itself
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but instead is sent
to other regions of the brain
to other regions of the brain
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to inform them of the impending motion.
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And for the voice, this corollary
discharge also has a different name.
discharge also has a different name.
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It is your inner voice.
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So let's recapitulate.
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We have the mask, the outward voice,
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the inside of the mask, your inward voice,
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and then you have your inner voice.
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And I like to see this one
as the puppeteer
as the puppeteer
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that holds the strings
of the whole system.
of the whole system.
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Your inner voice is
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the one you hear
when you read a text silently,
when you read a text silently,
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when you rehearse
for an important conversation.
for an important conversation.
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Sometimes is hard to turn it off,
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it's really hard to look at the text
written in your native language,
written in your native language,
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without having this inner voice read it.
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It's also the voice
that refuse to stop singing
that refuse to stop singing
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the stupid song you have in your head.
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(Laughter)
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And for some people
it's actually impossible to control it.
it's actually impossible to control it.
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And that's the case
of schizophrenic patients,
of schizophrenic patients,
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who have auditory hallucinations.
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Who can't distinguish at all
between voices coming from inside
between voices coming from inside
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and outside their head.
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So in our lab, we are also
working on small devices
working on small devices
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to help those people
make those distinctions
make those distinctions
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and know if a voice
is internal or external.
is internal or external.
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You can also think about the inner voice
as the voice that speaks in your dream.
as the voice that speaks in your dream.
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This inner voice can take many forms.
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And in your dreams, you actually unleash
the potential of this inner voice.
the potential of this inner voice.
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That's another work
we are doing in our lab:
we are doing in our lab:
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trying to access
this inner voice in dreams.
this inner voice in dreams.
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So even if you can't always control it,
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the inner voice --
you can always engage with it
you can always engage with it
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through dialogue, through inner dialogues.
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And you can even see this inner voice
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as the missing link
between thought and actions.
between thought and actions.
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So I hope I've left you
with a better appreciation,
with a better appreciation,
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a new appreciation of all of your voices
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and the role it plays
inside and outside of you --
inside and outside of you --
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as your voice is a very critical
determinant of what makes you humans
determinant of what makes you humans
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and of how you interact with the world.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rébecca Kleinberger - Voice expertRébecca Kleinberger is a voice expert pursuing research as a PhD candidate in the MIT Media Lab’s Opera of the Future group.
Why you should listen
Rébecca Kleinberger creatively mixes science, engineering, design and art to explore ways to craft experiences for vocal connection. As part of this work, she designs unique experiences to help people connect with themselves and with others. She accomplishes this using approaches that include projection mapping, virtual reality, rapid prototyping, deep learning, real-time digital signal processing, lasers, wearable technologies and robotics. See examples ranging from a projection ball gown to a memory music box to assistive wearable devices for stutterers on her portfolio.
Throughout six years of work on self-reflection technologies, Kleinberger has developed unique expertise on the human voice as a means of self-connection as well as with others and between species. Her research spans a wide range of fields including neurology, human-computer interaction, psychology, cognitive sciences, physics, biology, clinical research, linguistics, communication theory and assistive technologies. With these tools, people discover more about themselves and the expression they project.
Kleinberger's work was featured on the cover of the Financial Times Magazine and has been shown at a wide range of events and venues including the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Le Laboratoire in Paris, Siggraph Art exhibition in Los Angeles, the "Hacking Consciousness"exhibit at the Harvard Divinity School and EMF camp in the UK. She has collaborated with Microsoft Research UK and the Google Magenta team and has presented her research at a host of international conferences. Working with Tod Machover, head of the Opera of the Future group, and other group members, her research has also been deployed outside the MIT Media Lab as part of live shows and novel esthetic experiences at Maison Symphonique de Montreal, the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Her work has also been featured in Engadget and "60 Minutes."
Kleinberger graduated from École National des Arts et Métiers in Paris with a Master's of Mechanical Engineering and from University College London with a Master of Research in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualization. She is also experienced in the art of shearing sheep and raising hedgehogs.
(Photo: Stephanie Ku)
Rébecca Kleinberger | Speaker | TED.com