text to speech online

text to speech online

The Benefits of Using Text to Speech Online

1. Introduction

There are many people in the world today who believe that text-to-speech is no longer necessary. With recent advances in voice recognition and multimedia technologies, text-to-speech desktop products are becoming increasingly overshadowed by more popular and flashy gadgets. We believe that this is most unfortunate, as the synthesizer continues to be a useful tool in the daily lives of many people. In fact, its usefulness now extends beyond those with visual or speech impairments, to anyone who needs a mobile aural rendition of written material. We are developing a web application that integrates recent TTS and translation technologies, and provides an interface that can be custom-tailored to serve the needs of many different users. We believe that TTS synthesizers have an untapped potential for aiding in comprehension and memory of written material, as the information is being presented to the user in a form that engages the user’s cognitive faculties in a different way than the original reading. Hence we see our interface as being especially useful for language learning, or for foreign students working with technical material in their second language. Finally, our interface can be a useful tool in making written web content accessible to the blind or vision-impaired, and we will strive to make our interface as accessible as possible in this regard.

2. Convenience and Accessibility

It can be used anywhere on a computer or mobile device that has an internet connection. This allows people to multitask and use the technology while engaging in other activities such as household chores, driving, or watching children. People with visual impairments or others who have difficulty reading, such as children under the age of five, can also benefit from this technology. TTS can help visually or learning disabled people, or those who are suffering from a physical condition which makes it difficult to read text. Additionally, it can be installed into a mobile device such as a smartphone, so the user can listen to the TTS product anywhere. TTS helps people who are learning a second language and those who are ill or too weak to read. It increases their access to print, which enables them to maintain contact with study and work, thus preventing the knowledge gap and the further deterioration of valuable skills. By digitizing print materials, students and employees with learning disabilities can listen to an audio version of the content that is often easier to understand. Those who have difficulty reading, such as those with a range of vision problems or learning disabilities, can increase comprehension and the speed of learning a second language. High school and college students can use TTS to help with reading their required reading materials. Listening to a TTS voice can help students comprehend and recall the information read more effectively than reading the same text.

3. Improved Productivity and Efficiency

First, it is important to understand that humans are able to listen to around 300-350 words of content a minute and rarely ever read at the same speed. There have been many studies showing that people understand and retain information much better when they listen to information. Using TTS can help in many cases, whether you need to proofread a document, study for an exam, review an important report or email. Import the text into a TTS program, sit back, close your eyes and listen. This is a great multitasking solution because you can easily listen to the information while doing another task – working out, at the gym, commuting or during your lunch break and still understand and absorb the information. TTS can also assist people with learning disabilities such as dyslexia by having them listen to the text while reading along with it. TTS is also an important tool for the blind. With TTS technology evolving and improving the quality of computer voices, it has made it easier for the visually impaired to use a computer. This can be for a job that requires data entry or speaking in front of a computer to something as simple as browsing the web.

4. Enhanced Learning and Comprehension

Comprehension is essential to learning. One has to be able to understand what they are reading in order to learn something. We all know of those students who read something ten times and still don’t understand it. It is very frustrating for them and often is the cause for a decline in that student’s confidence and motivation to learn the subject. If that student had the option of listening to the text as they read it, their comprehension would increase drastically. Most studies have shown that people comprehend better when they are listening to something as they are reading it. Think about school textbooks. Often the material is very boring and hard to concentrate on. This is a prime example where TTS can be an effective learning tool. Another reason why students’ comprehension can improve with TTS is because it can act as a sort of studying tool. Outside of class many people have to read things that are education-related as a way to increase their knowledge in a subject. This information could include anything from a chapter out of a textbook to an article on the internet. People with learning disabilities like ADD, ADHD, or dyslexia often find it hard to read something and stay focused on it. This is where they can use TTS to their advantage. By listening to the text and reading along with it at the same time, they will increase their focus on the material and therefore their comprehension. The student can also listen to TTS at a faster pace than they are able to read which could increase comprehension and save time on reading the material for people without learning disabilities. TTS also can help with pronunciation of foreign languages and it can help children with learning disabilities have a better understanding of grammatical concepts of a language. Visual impairment is another thing that can hinder a person’s ability to learn something from a computer. There are large populations of blind people who would like to learn something off of a computer but have a very hard time doing it. With TTS, the computer can be a very useful learning tool for them. TTS software doesn’t have to be limited to reading text from the internet. One can scan printed text from books into the computer and the TTS program can read it.

5. Conclusion

Considering all the uses, anyone who are students or teachers; public speakers; foreign immigrants; handicaps, doctors and many other jobs, TTS technology is a valuable tool to make the task and its activities become easier. Any criticism about the lack of a feature or results that’s not perfect from current TTS technology are very relative and can be a valuable material for the TTS developers to refine its technology. TTS software and its technology will evolve along with the development of science and technology itself.

Language and culture are two of the most precious things in the world, because they’re the general identity of the social intercourse, but the guardians of the language itself – books and the elderly – can’t stay forever and the young generation often ignore and leave it. By reading texts using natural voice, the language won’t be “erased” and it will still be learned by the next generation, and the children today will also “meet” the culture with its voice that’s hard or impossible to make by learning the language manually.

Using TTS technology has many benefits. From human rights, disabled people’s rights to language exchange between people in different countries, TTS has a positive role in reaching these goals for social cooperation. There’s no sign and guarantee a better life in the future for human and disabled people, but at least by utilizing TTS technology, it’s better than it used to.