Have you ever wondered how text-to-speech voices are made? A recent post at The Assistive Technology Blog features a video from The Verge that discusses how text-to-speech videos are produced. One of the most well-known applications of text-to-speech is Apple’s Siri. In the video, you’ll meet the voice behind Siri. The video also features Nuance, the makers of Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Tag: Assistive technology
EU funded Research Project to Develop Exoskeleton that Could Help the Disabled Walk Again
A recent post at gizmag.com reports on a project in the UK called Mindwalker. This new EU-funded research poses the potential to give patients the ability to walk again, with the aid of a mind-controlled robotic exoskeleton dubbed “Mindwalker.”
“The Mindwalker (or Mind-controlled orthosis and VR-training environment for walk empowering) project proposes that the damaged spinal cord be bypassed altogether, instead routing brain signals directly to a robotic exoskeleton in a bid to get patients back on their feet. Its development involved researchers collaborating across several European countries.
“Mindwalker was proposed as a very ambitious project intended to investigate promising approaches to exploit brain signals for the purpose of controlling advanced orthosis, and to design and implement a prototype system demonstrating the potential of related technologies,” explained Michel Ilzkovitz, project coordinator at Space Applications Services in Belgium.
The system implements BNCI (brain-neural-computer interface) technology, which can be used to convert either EEG (electroencephalography) signals from the brain, or EMG (electromyography) signals from patient’s shoulder muscles, into electronic commands. The electronic commands are then used to control an exoskeleton attached to the user’s legs.”
To read the full article: Mindwalker mind-controlled exoskeleton could help the disabled walk again.
gizmag.com covers the full spectrum of emerging technologies, invention and innovation – from automotive to aerospace, from handhelds to supercomputers, from robotics to home automation, the site reports on all major announcements across more than 30 categories.
Back to School Apps from the Assistive Technology Blog
With the start of school in mind, the Assistive Technology Blog has identified several great apps for the IPhone, IPad and IPad Touch that could be helpful for the coming school year. Apps featured include Bookshare’s Read2Go DAISY ebook reader for iOS and Prizmo. (Prizmo can convert a picture of a document into text which can be read using text-to-speech).
To read the full post visit: Back to School Apps
WINAHEAD 