Systems and methods for expressive text-to-speech
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- identifying text to convert to speech;
selecting a speech style sheet from a set of available speech style sheets, said speech style sheet defining desired speech characteristics;
marking said text to associate said text with said selected speech style sheet; and
converting said text to speech having said desired speech characteristics by applying a low level markup generated by said speech style sheet.
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Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for expressive text-to-speech which include identifying text to convert to speech, selecting a speech style sheet from a set of available speech style sheets, the speech style sheet defining desired speech characteristics, marking the text to associate the text with the selected speech style sheet, and converting the text to speech having the desired speech characteristics by applying a low level markup associated with the speech style sheet.
140 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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identifying text to convert to speech;
selecting a speech style sheet from a set of available speech style sheets, said speech style sheet defining desired speech characteristics;
marking said text to associate said text with said selected speech style sheet; and
converting said text to speech having said desired speech characteristics by applying a low level markup generated by said speech style sheet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A speech style sheet, comprising:
at least one voice style associated with at least one voice-type, said at least one voice style relating a high level markup of said voice-type to a low level markup of said voice-type. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor having access to at least one speech style sheet, said at least one speech style sheet containing a definition of a voice style associated with a voice-type, and said definition relating a high level markup of said voice-type to a low level markup of said voice-type, wherein said processor is operative to convert said high level markup to said low level markup;
a user interface device for applying said at least one voice style to text associated with said voice-type, said user interface being in communication with said processor; and
an output device connected to said processor for converting said text with said low level markup to speech. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system, comprising:
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a designer device for creating speech style sheets;
a speech style sheet at least partially created by said designer device, said speech style sheet defining a voice style;
a text-to-speech device for receiving text associated with a voice-type, said text having a high level markup associated with said voice style, said text-to-speech device having access to said speech style sheet and also having;
a memory for storing computer executable code; and
a processor for executing the program code stored in memory, wherein the program code includes;
code to determine, by accessing said speech style sheet, a low level markup associated with said high level markup; and
code to convert said high level markup of said text to said low level markup; and
an output device for producing expressive speech using said text with said low level markup, said output device in communication with said text-to-speech device. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for producing expressive text-to-speech, comprising;
computer readable program code means for identifying text to convert to speech;
computer readable program code means for selecting a speech style sheet from a set of available speech style sheets, said speech style sheet defining desired speech characterstics;
computer readable program code means for marking said text to associate said text with said selected speech style sheet; and
computer readable program code means for converting said text to speech having said desired speech characteristics by applying a low level markup associated with said speech style sheet.
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33. A system for producing expressive text-to-speech, comprising:
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means for identifying text to convert to speech;
means for selecting a speech style sheet from a set of available speech style sheets, said speech style sheet defining desired speech characteristics;
means for marking said text to associate said text with said selected speech style sheet; and
means for converting said text to speech having said desired speech characteristics by applying a low level markup associated with said speech style sheet.
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Specification