Nkululeko: the new predict module

With nkululeko since version 1.7, there is the new predict module, which can be used for any us of already trained models like demoing them, using them on some test data or participating in a challenge.

nkululeko.predict

nkululeko.predict is the unified prediction module of Nkululeko. It replaces
the previous nkululeko.demo, nkululeko.feature_demo and nkululeko.testing
modules and bundles all of their functionality behind a single command-line
interface.

You can use it to predict labels for:

  • one or more individual audio files (--file)
  • every audio file inside a folder (--folder)
  • the audio paths listed in a CSV (--list, original columns are preserved)
  • a live microphone recording (--mic)
  • the dataframe defined by an experiment config — pass --config without
    any of the input flags above and the module loads the databases declared
    in [DATA] (subset via EXP.sample_selection, default all)

…using one of two prediction sources:

  • a feature extractor or autopredict target such as age, gender,
    emotion, mos, snr (--type feats, the default)
  • the best model from a previously trained experiment
    (--type model, requires --config)

Command-line interface

python -m nkululeko.predict
    [--file AUDIO [AUDIO ...] | --folder FOLDER | --list CSV | --mic]
    [--model MODEL] [--type {feats,model}]
    [--config CONFIG.ini] [--outfile OUTFILE]
    [--language LANG] [--no_playback]
Argument Description
--file AUDIO [AUDIO ...] One or more audio files. A single space-separated string also works (e.g. --file "a.wav b.wav"). Writes a per-file <name>_result.txt next to each input and prints results to stdout.
--folder FOLDER Folder to scan recursively for audio (wav, mp3, flac, ogg, m4a, au, aac). Writes a single CSV to --outfile.
--list CSV CSV with audio paths. Existing columns and the audformat index are preserved; prediction columns are appended. Writes a single CSV to --outfile.
--mic Record 5 seconds from the microphone in a loop and print predictions to stdout.
--model MODEL Either an autopredict target name (age, gender, emotion, mos, snr, pesq, sdr, stoi, arousal, valence, dominance, speaker, text, textclassification, translation) or a feature-extractor name (wav2vec2-..., opensmile, audmodel, emotion2vec-..., praat, clap, spkrec, trill, agender, whisper-..., ast, hubert-..., wavlm-..., squim, mos, snr). When --type model, --model is ignored — the trained model from the experiment is used.
--type {feats,model} feats (default): use --model as autopredict target or feature extractor. model: load the best model from the experiment defined by --config.
--config CONFIG.ini Optional INI file. Required for --type model. With --type feats it may supply FEATS.type so that --model can be omitted. When passed alone (without --file/--folder/--list/--mic), the dataframe defined by the experiment's [DATA] section is used; EXP.sample_selection (default all) selects train / test / all.
--outfile OUTFILE Output CSV path for --list and --folder. Default: ./prediction_result.csv.
--language LANG ISO 639-1 code (en, de, pl, …) for the text and translation autopredict targets. For --model text it sets the Whisper source language (overrides EXP.language). For --model translation it sets the Google Translate target language (overrides PREDICT.target_language).
--no_playback In --mic mode, suppress the playback of the recording before prediction.

The four input arguments (--file, --folder, --list, --mic) are mutually
exclusive.

Examples

Predict emotion for a couple of audio files

python -m nkululeko.predict --file test.mp3 test2.wav --model emotion

This writes test_result.txt and test2_result.txt next to each input and
also prints the predictions to stdout. With --model emotion, the
nkululeko.autopredict.ap_emotion predictor is used.

Predict SNR for every audio file in a folder

python -m nkululeko.predict --folder ./recordings --model snr --outfile snr.csv

The output CSV contains the audformat segmented index plus the new
snr_pred column.

Add prediction columns to an existing CSV, keeping all original columns

python -m nkululeko.predict \
    --list testdata.csv \
    --model mos \
    --outfile testdata_with_mos.csv

If testdata.csv is a valid audformat CSV (segmented or filewise index), the
index is preserved. Otherwise the first column is interpreted as the audio
path. Any further columns are passed through to the output.

Use the best model of a trained experiment

python -m nkululeko.predict \
    --list testdata.csv \
    --config config.ini \
    --type model

This loads the experiment specified in config.ini (which must have been
trained with MODEL.save = True) and runs its best model on each file in the
list. For classification, the output contains one column per class label with
the probability/score and a predicted column with the top-1 label. For
regression, a single predicted column is written.

Loop over microphone input using the FEATS section of a config

python -m nkululeko.predict --mic --config config.ini

Press Enter to record 5 seconds, q + Enter to quit.

Transcribe German audio with Whisper

python -m nkululeko.predict --file lecture.mp3 --model text --language de

--language de overrides EXP.language for the Whisper source language.

Predict over the dataframe defined by a config

When you only pass --config, the module loads the databases declared in the
config's [DATA] section and runs over the selection from
EXP.sample_selection (default all):

python -m nkululeko.predict \
    --config experiments/emodb/exp.ini \
    --model snr \
    --outfile emodb_snr.csv

Set EXP.sample_selection = train (or test) in the INI to restrict the
run to that subset.

Translate transcriptions to French

python -m nkululeko.predict \
    --list transcribed.csv \
    --model translation \
    --language fr \
    --outfile translated.csv

--language fr overrides PREDICT.target_language for Google Translate.

Autopredict targets

When --model NAME matches one of the autopredict targets below, the matching
nkululeko.autopredict.* predictor is used. The added column name follows the
<target>_pred convention.

Target Predictor module Added column
speaker ap_sid.SIDPredictor speaker_pred
gender ap_gender.GenderPredictor (audEERING agender) gender_pred
age ap_age.AgePredictor (audEERING agender) age_pred
emotion ap_emotion.EmotionPredictor (emotion2vec) emotion_pred
arousal ap_arousal.ArousalPredictor (audEERING dim) arousal_pred
valence ap_valence.ValencePredictor (audEERING dim) valence_pred
dominance ap_dominance.DominancePredictor (audEERING dim) dominance_pred
mos ap_mos.MOSPredictor mos_pred
pesq ap_pesq.PESQPredictor (SQUIM) pesq_pred
sdr ap_sdr.SDRPredictor (SQUIM) sdr_pred
stoi ap_stoi.STOIPredictor (SQUIM) stoi_pred
snr ap_snr.SNRPredictor snr_pred
text ap_text.TextPredictor (whisper transcription) text
textclassification ap_textclassifier.TextClassificationPredictor classification_winner + one column per candidate label
translation ap_translate.TextTranslator column named after PREDICT.target_language (default: en)

Feature extractors

If --model does not match an autopredict target, it is interpreted as a
feature-extractor name. The output columns are feat_0, feat_1, …. Examples:

python -m nkululeko.predict --file test.wav --model praat
python -m nkululeko.predict --folder ./voices --model wav2vec2-large-robust-ft-swbd-300h --outfile feats.csv
python -m nkululeko.predict --list audio.csv --model audmodel --outfile feats.csv --config has_audmodel_id.ini

Recognized prefixes / names: wav2vec2*, hubert*, wavlm*, whisper*,
ast*, emotion2vec*, opensmile/gemaps/compare, clap*, spkrec* /
xvect* / ecapa*, trill*, praat*, audmodel*, agender*, squim* /
pesq* / sdr*, mos*, snr*.

Note on overlapping names. mos and snr are both autopredict targets
and feature extractors. They resolve to the autopredict path. If you need
the raw feature extractor for these, use the lower-level extractor classes
directly.

Output formats

Mode Where the result is written
--file <name>_result.txt per input file (one key: value per line), plus stdout.
--folder Single CSV at --outfile with the audformat segmented index of the discovered files and the prediction columns.
--list Single CSV at --outfile with the original columns of the input CSV plus the prediction columns. The audformat index is preserved when the input is a valid audformat CSV.
--mic stdout only.