Tag: Speech

When I was a kid, the best way to get my brothers to stop talking was to repeat what they said right after they said it. Now, the U.S. Navy has taken that simple concept and expanded upon it to disrupt people from speaking at a distance.

Some people are born with the gift of gab, while others are simply lacking in it. For the latter group, there’s something called the “My Automated Conversation Coach” system that can help them out a lot in this department.

When last we saw iCub, he was learning to crawl like a baby and even count numbers like one. Now he has learned to talk like one. Human instructors have taught the bot to talk like a human infant, learning the names of simple shapes and colors so far.

Lee Ridley has cerebral palsy. One of its unfortunate consequences is that he lost his voice as a child, and according to him he “hasn’t found it since.” But he’s still able to do stand-up comedy, thanks to modern technology.

This sounds like something out of a science fiction TV show or movie, and in fact, it is. I used to really like SeaQuest DSV where they had a dolphin with a translator thing on its back that allowed it to talk to people.

If you’re looking for a new way to annoy the crap out of everyone you know, then look no further than the latest in Japanese toy tech – the amazing Mimicry Pet hamster.

File this under “weirdest use for a piano. ever.”. This amazing bit of programming and mechanical engineering has created what is probably the first and only classical piano that can speak in English.

If you’ve ever played with the KORG DS-10 cartridge for the Nintendo DS, you know how much fun you can have making tunes with your handheld. But did you know that the DS-10 can sing songs?

The iPhone app store is loaded up with tens of thousands of apps ranging from video games, to GPS software to fart apps. But here’s an application that can actually change lives. Proloquo2Go is an amazing iPhone and iPod Touch app that helps people with speech impairments communicate wherever they go.

If you thought that buying the new iPhone 3GS was the only way to get voice control on an iPod, you’re wrong. Thanks to this new accessory, you’ll be able to add voice command to other iPod models too.

Back in the day, I did my stint designing lighting and sets for community theater companies, so I’ve seen more than my share of wooden acting. But this is the first time I’ve ever seen metal acting.

Back in the early 1980s, long before the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 dominated the “next-gen” video game market, a little known console lived on the cutting-edge of gaming technology. The RDI Halcyon was a LaserDisc-based gaming system which was designed to bring the first full-motion video gaming experience to your living room.

I’ve always wanted a headline like that. It sounds like something out of Weekly World News. However, I assure you that this time it’s 100% accurate. The Mega Mech Airmagination Inflatable Robot has to be one of the worst product names I’ve heard in a long time.

The engineers over at VoiceSignal have put together a prototype voice recognition application for the iPhone that makes it capable what I’ve been dreaming that Apple would add to its iPods for years. The demo application, called “VTunes” shows off voice-based selection of songs.

Here’s another cheapie media player that manages to cram everything but the kitchen sink into a single device. Chinavasion’s latest media player not only handles your music and videos with aplomb, it can also emulate a variety of classic gaming consoles.

Text-to-speech software meets alternative music with this strangely compelling computer which has been programmed to sing. Mr. Hopkinson’s Computer sings covers of everything from Radiohead to Portishead to The Stone Roses in his computerized drone. In the video clip below, he even does a little sassy monologue and sings The Pixies classic Gigantic along with a live band.