Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Hemi-laryngeal Setup for Studying Vocal Fold Vibration in Three Dimensions
Published on: November 25, 2017
Effects of hand postures on voice directivity
Christoph Pörschmann1, Johannes M Arend1
1Institute of Communications Engineering, TH Köln-University of Applied Sciences, Betzdorfer Strasse 2, D-50679 Cologne, Germany Christoph.Poerschmann@th-koeln.de, Johannes.Arend@th-koeln.de.
Abstract:
While speaking, hand postures, such as holding a hand in front of the mouth or cupping the hands around the mouth, influence human voice directivity. This study presents and analyzes spherical voice directivity datasets of an articulated [a] with and without hand postures. The datasets were determined from measurements with 13 subjects in a surrounding spherical microphone array with 32 microphones and then upsampled to a higher spatial resolution. The results show that hand postures strongly impact voice directivity and affect the directivity index by up to 6 dB, which is more than variances caused by phoneme-dependent differences.
Related Concept Videos
Larynx
Anatomy of the Larynx
The larynx consists of various components, including cartilage, muscles, and vocal cords. Its structure includes three large unpaired cartilages—the thyroid, cricoid, and epiglottis—and three smaller paired cartilages—the arytenoids,...
Physical Assessment of the Respiratory Tract II: Palpation
Thoracic Palpation
Thoracic palpation detects tenderness, masses, lesions, respiratory excursions, and vocal fremitus. The nurse assesses...
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Assessment of Airway, Skin Color, and Use of Accessory Muscles
Introduction
The initial evaluation of a patient's respiratory system...
Physical Assessment of the Respiratory Tract III: Percussion
Percussion in Respiratory Assessment
Percussion evaluates underlying tissue composition with audible and tactile vibrations,...
Physical Assessment of the Respiratory Tract IV: Auscultation
Breath Sounds
Breath sounds are categorized into vesicular, bronchovesicular, and bronchial.

