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Sounds like the future
- 19 Feb 07, 09:20 PM
Whilst great strides have been made with synthesised voices, scientists are working on making sound not just more lifelike, but ultimately make them better to interact with than a real human. Would you want a screen reader with voices that realistic?
Research has shown that what an artificial voice sounds like is important – the wrong voice on a car navigation system can be not only irritating but also dangerous.
At first I thought that more realistic voices be a great improvement for screen readers. I must admit that I find the artificial delivery of my screen reader slightly annoying. I am, though, just an occasional user.
On reflection, I started to wonder if an artificial, computerised voice was actually well suited to screen readers. Most users have the speed of speech cranked up and that might not work as well with naturalistic voices. Having a synthesized voice may also make it easier to concentrate on what is being read.
So what do you think – are you happy with how your screen reader sounds, or are you hoping that the future will bring voices with a more human sound?
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Ideally, I'd love to see a "both and" approach to which voices to use. I'm a student, and like the more computerized voices for cramming, or just reading through a lot of material quickly. But if I'm reading for leisure, I'd prefer to have a more human voice. That is better for enjoying the content slowly.
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