Give Your Voice for Someone Without One

Give Your Voice for Someone Without One

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Trump Supporters and the Mid-Terms, Donate Your Voice, Building A Quieter Airplane Toilet

Episode: Trump Supporters and the Mid-Terms, Donate Your Voice, Building A Quieter Airplane Toilet

  • Apr 2, 2018 11:00 pm
  • 15:12 mins

Guest: Rupal Patel, PhD, Professor of Speech Pathology and Computer Science, Northeastern University, and CEO, VocaliD The late physicist Stephen Hawking’s computerized voice famously had an American accent, even though he was British. Why didn’t he have a British accent? Hawking explained on his website that, when he started using the technology, only the American accent was available and he just got attached to it. But speech pathologist Rupal Patel points out, that even today, there are just a handful of generic options for people using computerized devices to communicate. She’s developed a way to create custom voices based on the unique vocal characteristics of people who may only be able to make a few sounds. To do it, though, she needs a large bank of voice recordings donated by people like you and me. Donate your voice here.