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Author Topic: Record sufficient samples of your voice, in case you lose it  (Read 889 times)

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AL the Inconspicuous

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Record sufficient samples of your voice, in case you lose it
« on: March 02, 2010, 01:55:42 PM »

From AP via Breitbart -- Ebert tries out new "voice" on Winfrey's show --

Quote
Film critic Roger Ebert, who lost his ability to speak after surgery for cancer, tried out a new voice on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday as he made his Oscar predictions.

Ebert has been using off-the-shelf computer voices but they didn't sound like him.  Now computer programmers at a Scottish company called CereProc have captured the sound of Ebert's voice from DVD movie commentary tracks.

The film critic can type what he wants to say and listeners hear his voice.  On an episode of the talk show airing Tuesday, Ebert said the beta version needs improvement, but at least it sounds like him.

"In first grade, they said I talk too much.  And now I still can," Ebert said.  [...]


Wow...  I didn't follow the news on Roger Ebert, and I somehow expected him to be the same he was 3 years ago when I watched his show, so I was quite shocked...


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[/youtube]


Can't find a video of him "speaking" yet (and I'm not sure how appropriate my use of quotes is).


Anyway, what's most interesting is the idea that if you record enough of your voice while you still have it, you can create a "voice font" and be able to use the same voice forever.  I mean, if I lost my voice today, I'd have no data to make a "voice font" at all, but someone like Ian and Mark would obviously have thousands of times more data beyond the point of diminishing returns.  I wonder if casual callers to FTL leave enough of their unique voice impression in the archives to create a complete font - I mean FTL could be a vocal lifeboat for thousands of different people by now!

And of course there's the intellectual property angle - can someone use your voice without your permission?  You get the idea...
« Last Edit: March 02, 2010, 01:57:33 PM by Alex Libman »
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AL the Inconspicuous

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Re: Record sufficient samples of your voice, in case you lose it
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2010, 07:47:04 AM »

[youtube=640,515]<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiHOZatL6VI&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RiHOZatL6VI&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
[/youtube]

[youtube=853,515]<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NX3MMtIswfg&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NX3MMtIswfg&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object>[/youtube]


I don't agree with most of his movie reviews and I don't like his politics, but he (and his wife) definitely deserves major kudos for maintaining public [whatever-the-right-word-is] in all this...

I can definitely see how this technology is still it its pre-infancy, like a 19th century horseless carriage.  The ability to alter prerecorded "voice fonts" dynamically will continue to increase - the voice will still be monotone, but not as glitchy / unnatural sounding.  Being able to say a word without putting your hands comfortably on a laptop is the next major step (and typing from uncomfortable positions can be bad for you, or painful for some people), so I see light-weight "keyboard gloves" being the next major breakthrough. 

I wonder if we'll see the evolution of the written language to allow standardization of short-hand for common phrases (i.e. every first grader should know what BTW or TTYL means), as^well^as more }effective{ ways of ~injecting tempo & //emotion// into written speech [z].
« Last Edit: March 05, 2010, 07:57:32 AM by Alex Libman »
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Riddler

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Re: Record sufficient samples of your voice, in case you lose it
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2010, 08:18:06 AM »

fuck that.
i want the stephen hawking, generic robot voice
that, or darth vader
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