Personalizing Speech Output for Communication Devices

描述（由申请人提供）：ModelTalker是一种文本到语音合成（TTS）系统，旨在引起潜在增强和替代通信（AAC）设备用户的特别兴趣。大多数现有AAC设备使用源自20世纪70年代开发的基于规则的共振峰合成算法的TTS软件，但是现代拼接合成系统（其中ModelTalker是一个示例）可以提供具有相等或更高可懂度的更自然的声音合成语音。另外，虽然基于规则的共振峰合成通常产生不类似于特定说话者的语音，但级联合成提供了捕获特定个体的语音的可能性，因为它基于对个体说话者的语音进行采样。这种产生个性化、独特的合成语音的能力是连接合成对AAC设备用户最大的吸引力之一。该STTR申请寻求资金，以将ModelTalker TTS技术从开发该技术的研究实验室转移到小型企业，以便实现商业化。在传输过程中，提出了对合成软件的具体增强，并将开发一种新的语音，以（a）证明ModelTalker TTS系统在自然度和可懂度方面与现有TTS系统具有竞争力，以及（B）提供将随系统的商业版本一起提供的几种默认语音之一。该项目的长期目标是通过将ModelTalker引擎与目前正在开发的语音创建工具打包，将个性化合成“语音”的方法带给普通AAC人群。预计这项技术将对人们想要独特的合成语音的应用程序（例如教育软件和电子邮件听写）具有更广泛的吸引力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ModelTalker is a text-to-speech synthesis (TTS) system intended to be of particular interest to potential Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device users. Most present AAC devices use TTS software that derives from rule-based formant synthesis algorithms developed in the 1970s, but modern concatenative synthesis systems (of which ModelTalker is an example) can provide much more natural sounding synthetic speech of equal or higher intelligibility. Additionally, while rule-based formant synthesis typically produces speech resembling no particular speaker, concatenative synthesis affords the possibility of capturing the voice of a specific individual because it is based on sampling the speech of an individual speaker. This capability to produce personalized, unique, synthetic voices is one of the strongest attractions of concatenative synthesis for AAC device users. This STTR application seeks funding to transfer the ModelTalker TTS technology from the research laboratory in which it was developed to a small business for the purpose of commercialization. In the transfer process, specific enhancements to the synthesis software are proposed, and a new voice will be developed to (a) demonstrate that the ModelTalker TTS system is competitive with existing TTS systems in terms of both naturalness and intelligibility, and (b) provide one of several default voices that will ship with a commercial version of the system. Long Term goals for this project are to bring the method for personalizing synthetic "voices" to the general AAC population by packaging the ModelTalker engine with voice creation tools currently being developed. It is anticipated that this technology will have broader appeal for applications in which people want a unique synthetic voice (e.g. educational software and email dictation).