Dear Readers,

I would like to introduce you to iSpeech. Readers this is iSpeech. iSpeech these are our Readers.

iSpeech is a web-based solution that allows users to convert websites and blogs into audio.

iSpeech has been in development for more than eighteen months and does not require users to download or install anything. They simply cut and paste what they want to convert into the box provided on the site, or upload the files in question. After that, it’s easy to share the files in pretty much any format or forum.

I decided to test it out with the following quote from Speech Tech Blog favorite Emma Goldman:

“No great idea in its beginning can ever be within the law. How can it be within the law? The law is stationary. The law is fixed. The law is a chariot wheel which binds us all regardless of conditions or place or time.”

The results–which can be heard here–are very impressive.

So impressive, that we may start using iSpeech for the Speech Tech Blog. We will keep you posted.

I just want to remind everyone that we at Speech Technology magazine, convert our daily news features into audio files via the magic of Loquendo’s TTS Director!

So, if you want to listen to “Allison” read the latest in speech technology news–or even this blog entry–we’ve got the text-to-speech capabilities to make it happen for you!

Here at Speech Technology, we love robots. Passionately. Profoundly. Inappropriately.

So when we came across RoboVox, there was much jubilation and high-fiving and running around the office and jig-dancing and kissing of random women in the elevator.

Why? Because RoboVox is basically a GIANT ROBOT that accepts text messages from any cell phone and then speaks the messages back in its ROBOT VOICE.

Yes, that’s right: ANY TEXT MESSAGE! IN ROBOT VOICE! And, RoboVox is currently on tour and could be coming to a city near you!

From the RoboVox site: “RoboVox is a large (8m high) interactive public sound installation by media artist Martin Bricelj, using SMS for general public interaction. It will be installed in crowded metropolitan squares preferably on those carrying some social or even political connotation.”

“Its purpose is to serve as a tool for an individual, who’s voice usually gets lost in the sounds of the mass, the society. An individual can send a text message using his mobile phone to the dedicated RoboVox’s number. Upon receiving the SMS RoboVox says out loud the statement, the protest, the declaration of love, or whatever the message may read, thus lending its voice to the anonymous individual.”

Oh speech technology, is there anything you can’t do?

Despite the fact that our government will launch a potentially toxic Navy missile to destroy a fallen satellite, we here at Speech Tech are still all warm and fuzzy on V-Day. Not because we have a significant other, but because there are some good announcements to make in the wake of our government’s blowing-stuff-up announcement.

Today, I covered a story about Sri Kurniawan and Dominic Massaro, two professor at the University of California Santa Cruz. The two are working together to create virtual talking heads that assist people with disabilities or speech problems in learning language skills. While Sri’s talking head will be used as a speech therapist for stroke victims in Malaysia, Massaro’s heads work with children who are deaf or autistic. Both heads use text-to-speech programs, whose lip and mouth movements mimic natural facial expressions.

It’s this kind of application of speech technology I love to read about — when scientists and developers get together to help solve a problem outside the contact center, and make a difference in other’s lives. On that note, here’s my Valentine’s card to our readers — science-themed, of course! Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone.