Progress On Development Of First Maltese Speech Synthesiser

March 15, 2012 - PRLog -- PROGRESS ON DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST MALTESE SPEECH SYNTHESISER

Marsa, 6th May 2011


Crimsonwing has been awarded the tender to develop the Maltese Text to Speech Synthesiser by the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA) in August 2010. Since then, Crimsonwing has been working on the solution for this unique Synthesiser and is just bringing it to perfection until its release date in 2012, when it will be freely available for download.

The project is co-financed (85%) by the EU’s ERDF (European Regional Development Fund), and national Maltese funds (15%). It is part of the Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life – which is exactly what Crimsonwing is aiming for.

The Speech Synthesiser will have three different voices - a male, female and a child voice. The quality of the synthesised speech is highly dependent on the corpus of recorded speech used to create the diphone database. This is why it is recorded in a professional studio to ensure best quality of sound (44 KHz 16bit sound quality). A large database of recordings is required for sufficiently natural-sounding speech, spanning over many hours.

The Synthesiser will be Windows SAPI compliant (Speech Application Programming Interface) and inter-operable with any application that is SAPI compliant (e.g. Window-Eyes Screen Reader, etc).

“Crimsonwing is very proud to be associated with the FITA for the development of a Maltese Speech Engine. Whilst the technology exists for a number of languages, this is a first for Maltese! The application of this tool is widespread and will facilitate use of ICT products or services to illiterate persons and people with vision, dyslexia or cognitive difficulties. The project is particularly technically challenging. However, the team has made good progress and is well on track with the release of the 2nd prototype.” said Carmel Gafa, Crimsonwing’s Head of Technology.

The Crimsonwing R&D team has presented this at GhILM's third International Conference on Maltese Linguistics on the 9th April 2011, presenting the findings and developments to date for Crimsonwing's Speech Synthesiser.

For more information, you can request our PowerPoint presentation on the Speech Synthesiser and also have a look at our main page for the Speech Synthesiser.

About Crimsonwing

Crimsonwing is an international IT solutions provider developing and implementing leading-edge solutions to help European companies to gain a competitive advantage. Crimsonwing offers flexible, cost-effective and proven industry solutions for ERP, eCommerce and custom development, and is a growing, profitable and publicly listed company, employing 230 people.

About the ERDF

Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Co-financing rate: 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future

About FITA

The Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA) is the principal advocate and coordinator for making information communications technology (ICT) accessible for disabled people in the Maltese islands. Our information services assist disabled individuals in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device, intended to increase, maintain, or improve the individual's quality of life.

Press contact

Luise Lenzner,
Phone: +44 (0)207 367 4300
Email: contact@crimsonwing.com

MORE INFORMATION FOLLOWS:
http://www.crimsonwing.com/int/

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Crimsonwing provides IT solutions, services and suppor tto clients in the UK, Holland and Malta. The scope of the applications we deliver includes high quality eBusiness solutions (B2B, B2C), ERP systems and fully bespoke applications and integration.