Synthesizing Realistic Human Speech Just Got a Lot Easier
Voysis has shrunk Wavenets so they can work without internet connection
Voysis, a Dublin-based startup, said it’s shrunk the processing power required to run cutting-edge “Wavenet” voice generation technology so it can work on a mobile phone or other consumer device even without a connection to the internet.
The company, which will begin selling the system to developers and manufacturers from Thursday, said the advances it’s made will make it easier and less expensive to create chatbots and digital assistants with realistic-sounding synthesized human voices.
The market for text-to-speech applications is forecast to grow to more than $3 billion by 2022, up from $1.3 billion in 2016, according to data compiled by Ireland-based Research and Markets. Sales of digital assistants, many of which will incorporate computer-generated voices, are expected to hit $4 billion by the same year, according to Colorado-based market intelligence firm Tractica.