[DECtalk] DECtalk TTS licensing

[Jayson Smith]

Hi,

This is one issue I sometimes have trouble with, the fact that the best 
speech synthesizer in the world can't know what an author was thinking 
or his/her mood when he/she wrote a message. Perhaps the best example I 
can come up with on the spot is if I were to ask someone what they were 
working on, and they responded, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to 
kill you." Based on how a speech synthesizer reads that, you have no 
choice but to assume the person is really working on something extremely 
secretive. However, I might happen to know that they're joking around 
with me.

Jayson

On 8/31/2021 7:40 PM, Don wrote:
> On 8/31/2021 2:12 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:
>> Hi again,
>>
>> On Mon, 30 Aug 2021, Don wrote:
>>> How they are processed may differ.  But, how they are USED isn't.
>>
>> of course they are different, and there  is absolutely no uniformed 
>> structure
>> that reaches  a desired audience in the same fashion.
>
> Do you see headlines printed in handwritten *script*?
> Do you see "body text" printed completely in a BOLD typeface?
> Do you see the text of entire articles UNDERLINED?
>
> If you look CAREFULLY, you will notice that body text is typically
> presented in a roman, serif typeface, set "ragged right".  This is
> easiest for people to read.
>
> Headlines are usually bold, san serif typefaces.
>
> Underline, italics and bold are used SPARINGLY, for emphasis.
> Italics are used for words from foreign languages (e.g., etc.).
> Underline is used for titles (e.g., of books).
>
> This is basic high school English.
>
>> In fact, one thing I remember from graduate school is just how the 
>> supposed
>> audience can be manipulated by changing who you ask and how you ask 
>> questions
>> in your marketing research.
>
> Sure.  Which is why you have to *design* questionnaires and surveys.
> What does that have to do with fonts?
>
>>> You choose a font based on the feeling and focus that you want to 
>>> convey
>>> to the reader.
>> and what constitutes the reader?  those questions differ a great deal.
>
> Whomever is consuming the printed text.
>
> If I were to type entirely in uppercase, it would be perceived
> very differently than if I typed in mixed case -- a more normal
> presentation style -- and resorted to uppercase for emphasis
> (because I can't rely on other aspects of the typeface
> on YOUR computer to convey intent/focus/emphasis).
>
>>   A decorative font used as a headline would be interpreted
>>> far differently than a bold, san-serif font.
>> who is defining decorative?  based on what experience for what reader?
>
> "Decorative" is a recognized term in the publishing industry.
> It's like talking about serif vs. san serif, italic vs. roman,
> bold/heavy, etc.  Study a font catalog and you will quickly
> recognize how names are assigned to typefaces.
>
> Google "decorative font".
>
>> There is a reason why, scientifically mind you, it is well 
>> established that how
>> the human brain processes  visual information is less precise than 
>> how the
>> brain  processes information verbally.
>> comprehension is a science.
>
> So, how do you think you convey emotion, focus, etc. VISUALLY?
> Do I shine a bright light into your eyes to indicate that this
> is important?  The equivalent of raising my voice?
>
>
>
>
>>> There are reasons that font catalogs contain thousands of different
>>> typefaces and not just one!
>> certainly, but those options do not uniformly convey emotions 
>> consistently.
>> For example, one reader's decorative is another person's gaudy,
>
> No, you misunderstand the meaning of "decorative".  Do your
> homework.  You complained that folks conflate "TTS" and "screen reader";
> it seems only fair that I expect you to understand what you are
> reading before opining on it.
>
>> One setting
>> seeks simple clarity, the more simple the better like newsprint. Another
>> setting may layer on the fonts, leaving a reader confused.
>
> Anyone who is skilled in publishing KNOWS not to use more than a few
> typefaces in a publication.  Someone who throws lots of typefaces into
> a publication is just trying to show that he has lots of typefaces 
> available
> and thinks there is some "value" in that!
>
>> I actually took part in a discussion recently where marketers 
>> discussed why
>> using red yellow and green could be a bad idea because of what the 
>> color means
>> to different parts of the population.
>
> And colors focus at different "depths" on the retina.
>
> Any more pertinent trivia?
>
>>> In speech, you can convey this with intonation, volume, pitch, etc.
>>>
>>> But, what do I send to the synthesizer to say "present this with
>>> a sense of urgency" or "present this with rage" or "present this
>>> with a bit of levity" or ...
>> Why the combination of context and punctuation, of course, backed by 
>> a screen
>> reader that actually provides the ability to influence how this is 
>> managed.
>
> What SPECIFICALLY do I put in a document to indicate "I am angry"?
> Or, "I'm being flippant"?  Is there a special code that I've not been
> made aware of?  I've published thousands of pages of text and never
> knew there was this secret code...
>
>> even then though the reader still decides how something will be 
>> understood
>> within their cultural frames of reference.
>> And a quality screen reader paired  with a quality synthesis source 
>> does that
>> well indeed.
>
> What mood does your screen reader/synthesizer indicate for this sentence?
>
> And this?
>
> And, one more...?
>
>> Speech comprehension is a science too, what constitutes intelligible 
>> to the
>> human ear.
>>   Another simple example.
>> I am reading a fanfiction story that has the DC character Harley 
>> Quinn in the
>> cast..more than one actually.
>> the writer uses spelling to capture her  accent and speaking style 
>> punctuation
>> to indicate the pattern, and my dectalk  synthesizer coupled with my 
>> screen
>> reader nails her perfectly for that writer.
>> The other is less skilled in writing those elements, so Harley does 
>> not come
>> across so well to my ear.
>> You convey those things to the synthesizer by using proper 
>> configuration so the
>> tool works at its best.
>
> Gee, you have the exact same synthesizer reading both of those texts.
> Yet, one you claim performs well while the other, not so well.
> Seems to me that the *writer* is the one who represents the difference
> in effectiveness!
>
>> A great deal of effort went into how digital equipment corporation made
>> that happen
>> , because the process of communication in speech again is a science.
>
> No, it's just a consequence of how you convert letters to sound.
>
> Have you never read a book in which the characters were british?
> irish?
>
> How do you write a Scottish accent?
> Pronounce like words the same, join syllables in words, and drop “g” 
> endings.
> When trying a Scottish accent, think of “u” sounds as “oo” sounds.
> If there are two short words together, pronounce the two as one.
> Drop the ‘g’ sound from words ending in a ‘g.
>
> Try <https://accenterator.com>.  A good writer uses terms that are
> native to the culture that he is portraying (e.g., a brit would refer to
> the "loo"; an american to the "john"; a sailor to the "head"; etc.)
> Beyond that, artificially altering the correct spellings of
> words to emphasize the audible characteristics of such a speaker.
>
> If I write "New Yawk", I'm parroting the accent of a native new-yorker.
> If I write "Bahston", then I'm parroting someone from a bit further
> north.  If I say "Y'all", I'm likely mimicking a southerner.
>
> There's nothing magical about any of these misspellings; ANY
> synthesizer should manifest the differences in rhoticity.
>
> If I was putting myself into a story, I would make my utterances
> have the characteristics that folks who *know* me would notice.
> Someone who doesn't know me wouldn't understand their significance.
>
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