What if your voice could be preserved as an invaluable gem? This thought intrigues us a lot as it seems very fascinating to hear your voice without uttering a single word.
Voice banking is a process that enables a person to record a pre-defined set of sentences that is converted to generate a synthetic voice. It has polymorphic uses ranging from being used in advertising and dubbing since its invention in the 1990s by K.Sethuraman to helping persons with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) to bank their voice for future use within high-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system. Voice banking has a clearly laid out process specifying the minimum number of lines and voice efficiency that has to be recorded to generate either an analogous voice or a concoction of voices.
VocaliD is a data-driven voice artificial intelligence company that addresses an ingrained problem of voice prosthetics. Founded by Rupal Patel- a faculty member of Northeastern University, it seeks to craft custom synthetic personalities using a myriad of voices so that the people with speechlessness can be heard with a unique voice of theirs. It infuses an element of individuality in the old system.
Development always demands sustainability which is evidenced by the concept of voice donation which runs parallel to voicebanks. It means you can bring a significant change in the lives of people suffering from speech or language disorders resulting from aphasia, dysarthria or apraxia by contributing your share in the pool of voices to synthesise a sui generis voice.
Voice storehouse is yet another milestone achieved in the field of science and technology but it is still not accessible to everyone in which affordability plays a key role which is addressed by VocaliD. At the same time, the opening of Voice Preservation Clinic in the Northeastern University widens the prospects of its success. So, we should make our best efforts in propagating the wave of ‘change for better’ through proper implementation and don’t let the invention die in futility.
Kriti Vishwakarma