Conventional audio classification relied on predefined classes, lacking the
ability to learn from free-form text. Recent methods unlock learning joint
audio-text embeddings from raw audio-text pairs describing audio in natural
language. Despite recent advancements, there is little exploration of
systematic methods to train models for recognizing sound events and sources in
alternative scenarios, such as distinguishing fireworks from gunshots at
outdoor events in similar situations. This study introduces causal reasoning
and counterfactual analysis in the audio domain. We use counterfactual
instances and include them in our model across different aspects. Our model
considers acoustic characteristics and sound source information from
human-annotated reference texts. To validate the effectiveness of our model, we
conducted pre-training utilizing multiple audio captioning datasets. We then
evaluate with several common downstream tasks, demonstrating the merits of the
proposed method as one of the first works leveraging counterfactual information
in audio domain. Specifically, the top-1 accuracy in open-ended language-based
audio retrieval task increased by more than 43%.
The Multi-Disciplinary Nature of Audio Recognition and its Relationship to Multimedia Information Systems
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing advanced methods for audio recognition and understanding. This field has significant implications for various areas such as multimedia information systems, animations, artificial reality, augmented reality, and virtual realities. By leveraging the power of machine learning and natural language processing, researchers have made significant progress in training models to recognize sound events and sources from raw audio-text pairs.
One of the key challenges in audio recognition is the ability to learn from free-form text descriptions of audio. Conventional methods relied on predefined classes, limiting their ability to adapt to new scenarios and environments. However, recent advancements have unlocked the potential to learn joint audio-text embeddings, enabling models to understand and classify audio based on natural language descriptions.
This study takes this progress one step further by introducing the concepts of causal reasoning and counterfactual analysis in the audio domain. By incorporating counterfactual instances into the model, the researchers aim to improve the model’s ability to differentiate between similar sound events in alternative scenarios. For example, distinguishing between fireworks and gunshots at outdoor events can be a challenging task due to the similarities in sound characteristics.
To achieve this, the model considers both the acoustic characteristics of the audio and the sound source information from human-annotated reference texts. By leveraging counterfactual information, the model enhances its understanding of the underlying causal relationships and can make more accurate distinctions between different sound events.
The effectiveness of this model is validated through pre-training utilizing multiple audio captioning datasets. The evaluation of the model includes several common downstream tasks, such as open-ended language-based audio retrieval. The results demonstrate the merits of incorporating counterfactual information in the audio domain, with a remarkable increase in top-1 accuracy of over 43% for the audio retrieval task.
This research is highly multi-disciplinary, combining concepts from audio processing, natural language processing, and machine learning. By exploring the intersection of these fields, the researchers have paved the way for advancements in audio recognition and understanding. Moreover, the implications of this study extend beyond the realm of audio, with potential applications in multimedia information systems, animations, artificial reality, augmented reality, and virtual realities.