[school-discuss] gutenberg radio

[Mike Eschman <meschman@etc-edu.com>]

May 24, 2003 

etc ... : Third Week in May "Memorial Weekend" broadcast.

On the technical front, we are pleased to announce the first Gutenberg Audio Book to feature "Dialog Management", a scripting feature that automatically recognizes dialog passages in a book, and shifts to a different audio context, just as live readers do when action takes place.  This is the first step in automatically generating unique character voices for a work, a feat we expect to accomplish this very summer.

Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan" is the vehicle for our first offering that uses this exciting new form of TTS automation.


Now that we have introduced a synth voice reader that can beat the average volunteer reader 9 times out of 10 for consistency, clarity and plain ole excitement (yep, that was a challenge to anyone one there that thinks he can do better ...), we wanted to put a live benchmark out there that highlights the virtues of a good live reading.

For that task, Bugsy makes a new reading of Ring Lardner's "The Real Dope", a comedy classic of World War I, and a big favorite of American Doug-boys in France.  Now Bugsy is a real actor, so we don't want to pit synth against him!  His reading illuminates the good will and hope in the hearts of all the men who went to save France in her hour of need. His letters to Al are as fresh as the morning dew, bringing his character to life -- I can smell his cigarette!

So here it is, Tarzan - an adventure classic - done better than you (or your screen reader) can manage for yourself, courtesy of "Dr. Kula", and "The Real Dope" the way you wish you could do it.

Enjoy!

mike eschman, etc ...
http://www.etc-edu.com
"Not just an afterthought ...


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