What is Text to Speech Used for | Applications and Advantages?

It’s amazing how technology has changed our life. Many things we could not think of happening in reality, possible only in fictional movies, have actually been invented by technologists. Text to speech is just another addition to the blessings of modern-day science. You may be bored of reading e-books or even web content as many complain that reading from digital platforms is not as enjoyable as from actual paper-based materials.

Text to speech or speech synthesis has come as a solution to this newly grown problem. It can be a great assistive technology for your kids as well. How can it happen? If you are interested in what text to speech used for and the advantages of the ‘text to speech thing, then you may carry on with the article.

What is Text to Speech?

Text-to-speech or TTS technology is a recently invented technology that is used to read out aloud the text materials of digital devices to the audience. Almost all of today’s digital devices like computers, laptops, iPhones, Android, tablets have got text to speech tools incorporated in them. Many websites have special features to read aloud the contents to the visitors. Apps and speech software are also available both for android and IOS which can even highlight the exact text that is currently being read. You can also get audio files of your favorite article and play it via google play.

Thousands of reading material can be pre-recorded with human or ai voices some of which can even produce natural sounding speech with expressions and all. The use of artificial intelligence enables the devices to recognize the demand of the users and deliver the pre-recorded content accordingly.

For example, you may have heard about Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Microsofts Cortana, or Googles Assistant; these are separate voice recognition devices that can take command from you by hearing your voice and then provide you the answers/replies using what was pre-written on it and converting the texts into speech using machine learning .

SomeSome digital text-to-speech tools possess OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology which enables them Some digital text-to-speech tools possess OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology which enables them to read out loud not only from plain texts but also from picture texts.

This unique feature is used to produce road directions in voice form converting from an online map. You can even customize the tts technology application to exhibit your own voice; some people find it more comfortable following their own voice. These amazing features of AI have made text-to-speech technology pretty much popular in many sectors and industries.

6 Uses and Applications of Text to Speech

There is a good possibility that you may be using text-to-speech technology without even knowing. All the manufacturers of digital devices are making sure that newer innovation is brought to the customers constantly; and being a user yourself of these devices, there is no way you can avoid speech synthesis which is said to be a major invention in the last few years.

Hence, it is better that you understand the term and know the application areas which should expand your good experiences with a smartphone or a computer. Some of the key uses and applications of text to speech are mentioned specifically below:

E-Book Screen Reader

You no longer need to be hard on yourself to read a novel or a storybook from the smartphone just to save a few bucks. I am not saying that you go back to buy physical books; rather you can start to enjoy e-books, not by reading, in fact by hearing.

Text to speech technology is incorporated in many e-book applications from where you can read (or, hear) books even with your eyes closed. This can be a great blessing to those who have some issues staring at digital devices for a long period of time.

E-Learning TTS Tool

Some kids are not so well responsive to reading items during their early schooling periods. Many studies have revealed that the combination of reading and hearing provides better opportunities to understand and memorize the contents.

Special text-to-speech tools that can highlight the lines which are read out loud can help even more in grasping the points for the kids. It can increase the reading ability too.

Learning a Foreign Language

Learning a new language can often prove to be a hectic task. Text-to-speech technology can help students study foreign languages in this regard. Numerous studies show that when learning a new language, listening to it is far more effective than just reading.TTS can also help learners with pronunciation, accents, and cadence, helping them to sound more natural. It can also help learners read otherwise difficult texts. In short, a good TTS program can help learners of foreign languages build stronger language skills.

Helping Speech-Impaired People

People who are unable to communicate verbally, can benefit greatly from TTS technology. Deceased scientist Stephen Hawking is a good example of that. In fact, up until recently, text-to-speech technology was considered only as an accessibility tool. Simply put, with TTS, people unable to speak can express themselves audibly

Automotive Industry and Smart Assistants

From in-car voice control to onboard GPS, automobiles these days are showing increasing reliability on text-to-speech systems. Whether you want to control your Tesla with voice commands or want to find the nearest Starbucks, your smart assistant in your car is using the same TTS tools to communicate with you.

The same is true for Siri, Alexa, Bixby, and Google Assistant. These virtual assistant programs are just using TTS to convert your speech into text and spit out their text output with speech.

Map Guidance in Different Languages

Google maps and Apple maps use the text to speech technology extensively in designing online-based maps. When you are driving on a busy road, these maps can direct you without the need of writing anything or even looking aside from the road. The map application will speak to you about the turns that you need to take at any given moment.

Searching With Natural Language Processing

You must be familiar with using Google and YouTube. But, have you ever wondered about the microphone-like object just on the right side of the searching box? Have you tried it?

The marked microphone is the tool that can be clicked and spoken to Google about your search. You no longer need to right texts on the search bar. Search anything on Google by speaking to it like I have done to study today’s content. It is known as ‘speech to text technology.

Google will look for your search by running hundreds of algorithms and provide you the answers in voice form as well as the written texts.

Word Processing

The newer The newer versions of Microsoft Word have included the text-to-speech feature. So, whenever you complete writing a report or a story on MS Word, use this feature and hear what you have written. By double-checking the documents with your eyes at first and then with spoken word, you may be able to find some hidden errors if there are any, and rectify them before submitting. You can find this tool on the ‘Review’ tab of MS Word. The text to speech is also available on Google Docs although an extra add-in will be required to use it.

Websites

Nowadays, many websites put an option somewhere on the webpage to listen to the contents. This practice has helped not only in attracting many visitors but also in coercing them to stay there for a much longer time. People generally get boring reading material, that’s why the combo of reading and hearing pays dividends to content-producing websites. Google Chrome is using the feature for some time now and other browsers are not lagging behind either.

Advantages of Using Text to Speech

You already must have felt the necessity of using text to speech tool. The pros are long and wide. Although this industry is still new and emerging, one can argue that text-to-speech or speech-to-text is the future. Some of the advantages of using text-to-speech are mentioned here:

1. Text to speech feature removes the monotony of reading on digital devices.
2. Some children may be able to improve their comprehension skills by using the tool.
3. Voice recognition-based security systems can better your digital life experiences. To know more about voice translator devices, click here.
4. The tourism industry can be benefitted by starting a reservation system with text-to-speech features.
5. We can say in a nutshell that it has certainly come to ease our life by using artificial intelligence. But is it that great or is it dangerous for the future?

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can benefit from text-to-speech?

Text to speech of speech synthesis is beneficial for every single people. No matter what language they speak or communicate with, they can access different audio data, audiobooks, and written texts easily and with less time. TTS also makes things easier for people with a reading disability or dyslexia.

How does text-to-speech improve accessibility?

TTS is especially beneficial for people with low eyesight, blind people, children, and other disabled people. They can avail the same accessibility as any other human being with the help of speech recognition technology. At the same time, a study shows that 21% of book readers prefer to listen rather than read a document or book on their own.

What is the best text-to-speech?

Although it totally depends on every individual about their taste in AI reading and TTS, here are some of the best text-to-speech on the internet. They are Murf, Speechelo, Synthesys, Nuance Dragon, Speechify, Netvibes, and NaturalReader.

Conclusion

Assistive technology like text-to-speech has great prospects in the coming days. Hundreds of modifications can be incorporated in the technology to widen the usage in more fields in better ways. A day may come when you won’t write anything on the devices and in reply, the devices won’t show any texts; only voices will be the mode of communication. Whatever happens, let’s hope for a better future with some friendly technologies.