Lets not forget about the Echo PC or the Votrax!
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, May 03, 2010 8:54 AM
Subject: RE: [GW-Booksense] new voices for the booksense?
New voices for the BookSense? You young people don't know how good you have
things today. Back in my day we had to use a Tri-formations FFST terminal.
You want to talk about mispronunciations? If we wanted to understand things
we either had to misspell them or learn what it thought things should sound
like. Good thing that they were old Heath kit built it yourself devices. It
kept our fingers warm, which was a bonus since we didn't have heat.
Did synthesizers get better? Ah the ever popular Braille n' Speak. Blazie
Engineering must have spent at least $35.00 for that voice chip. At least we
could carry it with us. Although it was up hill no matter where we walked.
And it was always into the wind. The snow drifts would pile up so high we
had to step over the transmission lines that carried electricity. At least
we didn't have to worry about walking into those telephone poles as we
climbed over the drifts.
Now what ever happened to the Type and Speak that came with the Verbal
Operating System? Now there was a synthesizer. No problem turning up the
rate. None of this speeding up speech, because instead of trying to keep the
same tone while speaking faster, it worked like the old variable speed tape
players that made every recording sound like Disney characters. A lot less
overhead that way.
Did I mention that we had to use these systems on stationary wind trainers?
That was the only way to generate power.
OK, obviously this note is written tongue in cheek. The challenges with
synthesizers is getting used to them in the first place. Then with different
devices, I don't think one tool is the answer for all of us, we need to get
familiar with different types of text to speech software solutions. I like
the fact that companies are working on better and better human sounding
voices. What I have noticed is that I struggle using those better voices at
faster rates. I suspect my brain is bocking at them, because people rarely
speak that quickly. What is the average rate of a person's speech? I think
it is in the neighbourhood of 90 words per minute. So my head is saying that
it is OK to have those robotic voices cranked to 200 or 300 words per
minute, because they are not human and that is OK. Winding up a newer human
sounding voice to those rates probably has my brain saying hang on there
speed racer; people do not talk that fast. Well may be an auctioneer.
As for me I am fortunate in that I have had to use different qualities of
synthetic speech. Therefore the transition between synthesizers is not too
bad.
Good luck along the path of becoming comfortable with more and more
synthesizer options. Hang in there, it does get better.
Vic Pereira
Chief Informatics Office | Bureau de l'informatique
Small Business and Marketplace Services | Services axés sur le marché et les
petites entreprises
Industry Canada | Industrie Canada
400 St Mary Avenue, Winnipeg MB R3C 4K5 | 400, avenue St Mary, Winnipeg MB
R3C 4K5
[email protected]
Telephone | Téléphone 204-983-0653
Facsimile | Télécopieur 204-984-4205
Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada
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