In the news: How Siri found its voice

Image: appadvice.com
Image: appadvice.com
If you’ve ever wondered where Siri’s voice came from, this article is for you (or, if you’re a total linguistics geek). The Verge has a fascinating story about how speech is more than the sum of the actual letter sounds. Emotion, inflection, what sounds come before letters—it all adds up. Verge Video visited Nuance Communications for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to develop a computer voice that sounds natural. Take a short 10 minute break and check it out:

Missy works on the Corporate Communications team and reports stories to TDS employees and customers. This is right up her alley because she’s an extrovert and also a big fan of research (really, she’ll look up just about anything that strikes her interest). Missy is a native of Madison, Wis. with an undergraduate in Anthropology and a master’s degree in Life Sciences Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interest in the Internet as a mass media shaped her work towards a PhD in Journalism and Mass Communications. She’s also worked as an editorial assistant, copywriter, and production artist. In her off hours, Missy is a crafter, Pinterest addict, reader, wife, and mom of two kids.

4 Comments

  1. Christopher
    on September 19, 2013 at 4:55 pm •Reply

    And Siri is out of beta. Great new improvements.

  2. Deanna Pease
    on September 19, 2013 at 5:56 pm •Reply

    I have it but it doesn’t talk. Do you know if it works with the IPad 2? I bought the app.

  3. missyk
    on September 23, 2013 at 11:03 am •Reply

    Deanna, I’m not a Siri expert, but I did a little Googling and it doesn’t look like it works on the iPad 2 (I found this article if it’s at all helpful: http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/12/to-be-clear-siri-is-not-coming-to-the-iphone-4-or-ipad-2/). I did spot some YouTube instructions for making it work but, from the sounds of it, you’re basically hacking your iPad so it’s not something I would encourage you to try.

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