Edinburgh-based speech synthesis company Rhetorical
Systems is knocking on the door of Hollywood
after signing a lucrative partnership with US
media firm Pulse.
The deal will see Rhetorical, which specialises
in converting text to speech, provide the voices
for computer-generated movie stars to be used
on websites.
Rhetorical Systems technology, called
rVoice, will be used to give a naturally sounding
human voice to Pulses digital characters,
which are capable of working within areas of
online learning and communication, customer
relations management, e-mail and instant messaging
and the creation of website hosts.
Pulses technology has attracted investment
from AOL Time Warner and Softbank and has a
client base including NBC, Warner Brothers,
The Jim Henson Company, creator of the muppets,
MTV and Electronic Arts.
Star Voices
Rhetoricals rVoice software can replicate
the voices of the stars by digitally replicating
natural-sounding, pitch and intonation voices.
Marc Moens, chief executive of Rhetorical Systems,
said: "With rVoice, Pulses 3D characters
can be complemented with completely natural
speech synthesis. The process of developing
such characters becomes much quicker.
"The deal will see computerised characters become
much more realistic and compelling as the possibilities
expand."
Celebrity Voices
Rhetorical said it expected to offer custom
and "celebrity" voices, under licence from the
film, television and other entertainment industries,
for various forms of web communication and entertainment.
Using automated lip-synching integrated with
highly natural synthesised speech the range
of characters will extend across gender, and
cover a wide variety of different accents.
To date, Rhetorical has created six different
voices ranging from a Bronx drawl to a Scots
accent with others planned for launch within
the next three months.
Bespoke Solutions
Moens added: "Synthesised voices will increasingly
become an integral part of the development of
interactive solutions - built as the character
is built, rather than having to build the character
around the limitations of an actors voice."
Apart from achieving high-quality synthesised
voices, Rhetorical has also developed tools
and technology to develop new voices and to
tune voices to new domains.
Rhetorical Systems has recently signed major
retailing deals with Phillips and Nuance, two
of the worlds largest developers of speech
technology.
The firm was set up in April 2000 with an initial
£2 million of private investment. It is currently
close to securing a further multi-million round
of venture funding which will fuel its push
into US markets.
|