Pretty cool, I think

[Steve M]

Software that sorts heavy accents or speech impediments into a more clear conversation. We may be able to speak to support people in the future.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/02 ... nderstand/


It began as a fascinating, made-in-Canada technology to render the voices of people with cerebral palsy and other speech-impeding conditions more intelligible.

Now the developers of unique speech-transformation software are talking to companies with overseas call centres, interested in using the system to make thickly accented operators in Bangalore easier for customers in Saskatoon to follow.

Created by a computer scientist at a Toronto hospital, the program almost instantaneously filters unclear words and sentences and spits them out again — in the speaker’s own voice — with fewer impediments, making the person easier to comprehend.

The software could be embedded in a portable device that people with speech disorders would carry with them, or integrated with call-centre telephones, says Frank Rudzicz, a scientist at the Toronto Rehab Institute.