Link to Text Version Speech Research Lab
design bar
Info for Users of AAC Devices
Link to Speech Research Lab Main Page
Link to info for users of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices

Link to info for Clinicians

Link to info for Speech Researchers

Link to Model Talker Speech Synthesizer

Link to STAR : Speech Training, Assessment and Remediation

Link to Language and Speech Journal

Link to Speech Research Lab Newsletters

Contact Us!

 

 

 

 

 

Index:

How a Synthetic Voice is Created

The first step in creating a synthetic voice is recording the inventory of words and phrases. A software package called InvTool will prompt the person being recorded with a specific word or phrase. Guided by the InvTool instructions, the person will say and store the prompted word or phrase. InvTool will give feedback about the quality of the recording and may make suggestions to the person about the volume, pitch, and goodness of pronunciation, and the person can choose to rerecord the recording or save it. Once the person is satisfied, she or he pushes a button to store the speech and InvTool prompts for the next word or phrase. If the person needs to take a break, InvTool will remember which word they were on and, when the person is ready, will resume where the person left off.

Currently, InvTool will prompt for approximately 1650 words and phrases. However, users may choose to add to this list, and can also choose to stop without recording the complete set.

Once the inventory has been recorded, the raw speech files are processed by a program called BCC to create a speech database that is ready for use by our text to speech synthesizer program called ModelTalker.