Eloquent Technology, Inc. (ETI) proposes to develop speech synthesis software for five dialects of American English, each with male and male and female variations, for use in unlimited vocabulary vocal communication aids. ETI will use rule-based synthesis with an innovative methodology that enables faster and more economical development of high- quality synthetic voices then formerly possible. The rules will be organized into relatively large dialect-universal modules and much smaller dialect-specific ones. To develop modular rules efficiently, ETI will use (1) a novel linguistic model, (2) a multi-dialect relational database, and (3) the Delta System. The linguistic model leads to simpler rules and captures similarities across dialects. The multi- dialect database will contain the linguistic and acoustic information for a large number of utterances in different dialects from which to extract rules. ETI's Delta System provides an interactive environment for exploring rules, and a special programming language for implementing them. Our Delta rule modules will be compiled into a portable format for use in end-products. ETI will document extensively both the rules and the methodology used to derive them, facilitating the efficient and economical development of a wide range of additional voices in the future.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase II (R44)
Project #
2R44DC000758-02
Application #
3507166
Study Section
Sensory Disorders and Language Study Section (CMS)
Project Start
1990-03-01
Project End
1994-11-30
Budget Start
1992-12-01
Budget End
1993-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1993
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Speechworks International, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Ithaca
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
14850