EmoBone: A Multinational Audio Dataset of Emotional Bone Conducted Speech

Abstract

This paper introduces EmoBone, a comprehensive audio-only emotional bone-conducted speech dataset featuring speakers from various countries. The dataset comprises speeches from 28 individuals representing 10 different nations, with each participant delivering 10 sentences designed to evoke distinct emotions. In addition to an air-conducted microphone, the recordings utilized bone conduction technology, transmitting sound directly to the speakers' inner ears, ensuring high-quality emotional speech recordings. To assess the validity of the dataset, 80 university students from Bangladesh listened to the recordings and successfully identified the expressed emotions with an accuracy exceeding 76%. Statistical methods were also employed to evaluate the reliability of the dataset, revealing a high level of agreement among raters. EmoBone, with a cumulative duration surpassing 19 h and 15 680 unique utterances, stands as the most extensive emotional speech dataset available. This makes it a valuable tool for studying how emotional speech varies across cultures. Furthermore, due to its utilization of bone conduction technology, EmoBone facilitates the study of acoustic features in emotional speech from diverse dimensions. The data that supports the findings of this study is available upon reasonable request. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.