[DECtalk] status of DECtalk SAPI from Enable Rehab

[Brandon Misch]

ok thought only paul was going to be released as the only voice. 

On May 7, 2011, at 7:42 PM, Corine Bickley wrote:

> at some point, but we need to test the code thoroughly before we
> announce a release.
> 
> On Sat, May 7, 2011 at 4:30 PM, Brandon Misch <bmisch2002 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> will the sapi version you sell be availabl or is that being dropped?
>> 
>> On May 7, 2011, at 1:56 PM, Corine Bickley wrote:
>> 
>>> Hello DECtalk friends,
>>> We at Enable, two former students of Dennis Klatt and his friend/mentor
>>> Prof. Ken Stevens, learned of an interest in a version of DECtalk that was
>>> SAPI compliant. Both of us had worked for short intervals with Force
>>> Computers and then Fonix to try to keep DECtalk alive commercially in 2000.
>>> However, our efforts were not appreciated at either company. We both were
>>> laid off. However, we stayed in touch with Ed Bruckert who has kept DECtalk
>>> alive for over 30 years. Ed was our manager at Force and then Fonix. Sadly,
>>> Ed is now legally blind and can only advise, not program. He helps with
>>> advice as he best as his memory allows.
>>> 
>>> Ed has explained that DECtalk has not made any money for many years. Enable
>>> will never make any money off of any version of DECtalk, but in honor of
>>> Dennis we'd like to keep DECtalk available. No other company else has any
>>> interest in doing so. After much negotiation, Ed was finally able to
>>> convince Fonix to let Enable license whatever old copies of DECtalk code
>>> that we could find. That cost alone is far more than any profit Enable will
>>> ever realize from sales of DECtalk. Also, Fonix owns any changes we make to
>>> DECtalk code. They, Fonix managers, are smart. You may conclude that we at
>>> Enable are stupid, at least naive, but please be assured that we are well
>>> intentioned and want to make DECtalk available to whoever wants it, if
>>> anyone does. It seems now that no one does, at least not any version that
>>> Fonix will let Enable have access to. However, I can rest easy in knowing
>>> that we tried. I'm sorry to all of you that we failed. We wish you well in
>>> continuing to use whatever versions of DECtalk you have access to. It's
>>> wonderful that those versions still exist - do enjoy them.
>>> 
>>> One of the old versions of DECtalk does work with at least some of the
>>> voices, such as Paul. That old version is now being evaluated by the
>>> Acoustical Society of America's Standards Committee for intelligibility of
>>> TTS systems for blind users. If that old version evaluates adequately (the
>>> first report will be presented this summer at an international conference by
>>> Drs. Ann Syrdal and Taniya Mishra), particularly at high speeds, then we
>>> will offer that version for sale as an add-on to screen readers of the
>>> user's choice. Both the Paul and Betty voices are being evaluated. If anyone
>>> on this listserv is interested in hearing the samples as well as the other
>>> synthesizers included in the evaluation, please access the site:
>>> http://dudley.research.att.com/tts/TESTS/TTSrateIntelligibility/html/index.h
>>> tml
>>> Sometimes this link is down because the ATT researchers are accessing the
>>> results. Please try later if it doesn't work when you first try it. Several
>>> kinds of TTS systems are included, each with a male and a female voice.
>>> You'll have to re-enter the site quite a few times to hear samples of all
>>> the different voices in all the different TTS systems. The presentation is
>>> randomized, so there's no way to know whether you will hear DECtalk or some
>>> other system each time.
>>> 
>>> Again, best wishes to all on this listserv in your continued use of DECtalk.
>>> 
>>> corine bickley
>>> Enable Rehab, president
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> DECtalk mailing list
>>> DECtalk at bluegrasspals.com
>>> http://bluegrasspals.com/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>> 
>> 
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