Hello, This Is Me Speaking
By Ebert, Roger; rogerebert.com,Publication Date: February 26, 2010
Blog entry by film critic Roger Ebert describes the development of text-to-speech computer software that sounds like his own voice for use after he lost his ability to speak following surgery. Ebert, who had several surgeries and radiation treatments for cancer of the thyroid and lower jaw resulting in the loss of his voice, initially used the text-to-speech voice Alex included in the VoiceOver application on his Mac computer to communicate; however, as these voices did not sound anything like him, he turned to CereProc (http://www.cereproc.com/), a Scottish company that builds individualized voices for their customers. CereProc used commentary tracks Ebert had recorded for movies on DVD to create a vocabulary for the customized voice which, according to Ebert and his wife, sounds like him. Improvements on the “Roger Jr.” voice still to be made include a smoother tone and steadier pace. The film critic plans to use his customized software for Webcasts, commentary for movie clips, and radio; however, he points out that the technology is too slow to be used for live television.
Published by: Chicago Sun-Times (Website:http://www.suntimes.com/)
Link to text: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
