Overview
TTS systems aim to produce natural-sounding, expressive speech that is indistinguishable from a human voice.
Components
- Front-end: Processes the text, handles abbreviations, and determines the pronunciation and prosody (rhythm and intonation).
- Back-end (Vocoder): Converts the symbolic linguistic representation into actual sound waves.
Evolution
- Concatenative Synthesis: Stitching together small fragments of recorded human speech.
- Parametric Synthesis: Using mathematical models to generate speech sounds.
- Neural TTS: Using deep learning (e.g., WaveNet, Tacotron) to generate highly realistic and emotive voices.
Applications
- Screen readers for the visually impaired.
- GPS navigation systems.
- Audiobooks and automated content narration.
- Virtual characters and gaming.