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Willem van der Walt
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A researcher at the CSIR's Meraka Institute has succeeded in putting an open-source text-to-speech (TTS) synthesizer onto the Symbian cell phone operating system. This makes it possible for text messages to be converted to spoken messages. Willem van der Walt recently completed the development of the demonstrator that 'ports' the eSpeak synthesizer onto this platform, which is the operating system used by most Nokia cell phones.
eSpeak is a compact open-source-software speech synthesizer for English and other languages, written in C++ and released by Jonathan Duddington for use on the Linux and Windows operating systems. It uses a different synthesis method from other open-source TTS engines and produces clear articulation. The fact that it is open-source software means that it can be adapted for different applications
Van der Walt's success lies in the fact that he built a format of eSpeak for cell phones with the Symbian operating system. He is excited at the possibilities that this ushers in, as text messages are an economical and tried-and-tested method of mobile communication. "Cell phones are ubiquitous," he notes. "This means that people have a little computer at their disposal. Not only will this TTS functionality on a cell phone be useful to people who are blind, but it also makes it possible for people who cannot read, to hear text messages."
Through Van der Walt's efforts, Afrikaans has been added as an additional language to eSpeak, which already supports 67 languages. It can accommodate many languages as sounds are shared among different languages. This keeps the footprint (size) of the synthesizer small and hence it is possible to have many languages in one synthesizer on the cell phone. Van der Walt believes that eSpeak on cell phones opens up possibilities for South Africa's indigenous languages and for applications in education.
Van der Walt has had contact with users of eSpeak throughout the research process and has had complimentary feedbac from Duddington. Another contact, Peter Vágner, was also appreciative: "Thanks for such a good job - even the fact that somebody has succeeded in compiling and running eSpeak for Symbian is a great step forward."
As a blind user, Van der Walt was able to get a phone screen reader on his cell phone. He believes there is great potential for phone screen readers and eSpeak to be integrated. eSpeak is available as a building block for cell phones and has the potential for use in a number of applications.
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