10/21/2025
By Danielle Fretwell
The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, invites you to attend a Master's Thesis defense by Vinh Tran on: "Acoustic Analysis of Directional Sound from Parametric Array Speakers for Securing Voice-Activated Systems."
Candidate Name: Vinh Tran
Degree: Master’s
Defense Date: Friday, October 31, 2025
Time: 2 - 3 p.m.
Location: FAL-203
Committee:
- Advisor: Kavitha Chandra, Eng.D., Associate Dean of Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell
- Charles Thompson, Ph.D, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell
- Orlando Arias, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell
Abstract:
A number of studies have identified the vulnerabilities of voice-activated devices to attacks from amplitude demodulated sound from directional speakers. In this research, a controlled set of speech data, both live and that played back from directional speakers is analyzed to identify the acoustic features integral to speaker recognition in smart devices. A category of features including Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients derived from Mel filter banks are examined for potential to differentiate and classify speech sources. Potential vulnerabilities in voice-activated systems are systematically identified by examining the acoustic characteristics of diverse voice samples. This analytical approach aims to unveil potential weaknesses that could be exploited, triggering responses from these systems. The findings of this study contribute to the comprehension of the security landscape surrounding voice-activated technologies, paving the way for enhanced cybersecurity measures within this domain.