[CEATEC 2015] Japan, the land of ramen and robots. Of course, it makes perfect sense that an ageing population would need more and more healthcare as time passes by, and if humans are unable to deliver, then perhaps robots are able to help. If you absolutely loathe the idea of a cold, robotic voice speaking to you, Japanese company AITalk has something different up their sleeves in the form of AITalk software. They offer a range of software for different uses, and what sets them apart would be a smooth, natural voice that is as close to a human as possible.
Forget about conventional robotic voices, AITalk will adopt a technical speech synthesis method of synthesizing a human voice, and it is capable of expanding its vocabulary as and when required. In fact, a single language might have up to 40 different kinds of personalities behind it, and this kind of variety would certainly make communicating with a robot a whole lot less impersonal.
It can also realize the emotional expressions of a human in order to suit the situation at hand. Of course, AITalk had to enrol the help of a mechanical humanoid to get the message across in its demonstrations, and the voice itself – its dulcet tone, the natural sound of it, makes it sound as though it hails from a human, although in reality it is synthesized speech. Unfortunately, it is not the android’s turn to look cold and lifeless, as you can tell by its rather gaudy looks.
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