The Creative Speech Technology (CreST) Network Alistair Edwards & Chris Newell

The Creative Speech Technology (CreST) Network

Alistair Edwards & Chris Newell

A research network

Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)Networks are a way to bring together people of related interests to foster new research partnershipsLater additional funding from the Arts Council for England

Is this a first?Not a focussed research project

Our networkDeliberately diverse

From• John Wedgwood Clarke

– poet

To• Roger Moore

– Professor of Spoken Language Processing

From• Alan Martin

– Accessible creative dance, music making, and Light Painting with dance

To• David Mason

– Toby Churchill Ltd

Diversity

Bring together artists, users, technologists and researchers…and see what they can make the technology do

AAC

Is not the only focus…but most of our work has potential application to AAC

Roadshow

Focus of our work3 December 2012 (UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities)

York, City Screen

4 DecemberSheffield, Winter Gardens

5 DecemberHull, Hull Truck Theatre

Roadshow dress rehearsal

September 2012University of York

My Voice is Me

Lee Ridley videoVisitors invited to complete: My voice is…

Can’t Sing, Will sing

Four-part choral harmonyUser controls one of the voices through a games controller

Controllable, Expressive Speech Synthesis

Control the speech of cartoon characters

Select voice• male, female, robot, child

Select mood• angry, happy, sarcastic,…

- using two big silver balls

Voice by Choice

Comedy sketch by Lee RidleyBased on a speed-dating event

at which 3 people all have the same voice

It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it

Hand gestures control voicepitchrate

AnTon, the animatronic tongue

Visitors can play with the tongue muscles

Conversational Kiosk

Engage in a spoken dialogue with a machine

Bespoke

Poems by John Wedgwood ClarkeSpoken by speech synthesizerPerformed by an actor

who cannot speak

Professor Moore’s Digital Voice Factory

Record your own voiceHear it

backwardssdrawkcab

like a dalek and really messed about

My Voice and Me

A melodrama

Frank

Experiments in sympathetic engagement elicited through

Silence in Synthetic Speech

Beyond Speech

Speech becomes something more

controlled by gesture

The CreST Documentary

Where next?

Context awarenessAnnual conferenceWebsite

Thank you

The CreST Networkhttp://crestnetwork.org.uk

Alistair EdwardsUniversity of York

Christopher NewellUniversity of Hull

Debbie HaverstockUniversity of York

Emma-Jane AlexanderUniversity of Hull

Maria AretoulakiDialogCONNECTION Ltd

Matthew AylettBruce Balentine

EIG Labs

James BalentineUniversity of Texas at San Antonio

Paul BarkerCentral School of Speech & Drama, University of London

Art BloklandToshiba Research Europe Limited

Mark BlytheNorthumbria University

Leonardo BottaciUniversity of Hull

Jude BreretonUniversity of York

Rob ClarkUniversity of Edinburgh

John Wedgwood ClarkeUniversity of Hull

Caroline CollinsEnterprise Integration Group

Daniel DoughtyUniversity of Hull

Paul ElsamUniversity of Teesside / Academy of Live and Recorded Arts

Paul FoulkesUniversity of York

James GilbertUniversity of Hull

Mark HildredApollo Creative

David HorowitzHorowitz Immersive Worlds Ltd

David HowardUniversity of York

Ben JohnsonApollo Creative

Kevin JonesComposer, writer, sound artist

Simon KingUniversity of Edinburgh

Pierre LanchantinUniversity of Cambridge

Javier LatorreToshiba Research Europe Limited

Ann LightNorthumbria University

Lucy LowsonGLOSSA

Robert MackayUniversity of Hull

Gill MainUniversity of Plymouth

Alan MartinMouse on the Move Workshops

David MasonToby Churchill Limited

Roger MooreUniversity of Sheffield

Darren MundyUniversity of Hull

George NewellAlan Newell

Dundee University

Rowan OliverUniversity of Hull

Sandra PaulettoUniversity of York

Barry PerksInternational Service

Chris PidcockCereProc Limited

Graham PullinUniversity of Dundee

Darren ReedUniversity of York

Hannah RolfeNeel Shearer

Toby Churchill Limited

Robert StewartPatrick Titley

University of York

Christophe VeauxUniversity of Edinburgh

Vincent WanToshiba Research Europe Limited

Jez WellsUniversity of York

P C WrightUniversity of Newcastle