Cantonese Text-to-Speech (TTS) System

V3 is now ready…and can run on Windows Mobile Androidand iPhone

New Super Natural Male Voice

Introduction

The Cantonese Text-to-Speech (TTS) system introduced by PiTL provides a CD quality output from Chinese (Big5) Text to Mp3. The system consists of the technologies in Speech Signal Processing, Artificial Intelligence and Cantonese Linguistics that can transform a Text into native Cantonese Sounds. It is a Hong Kong style Cantonese speaking machine and can pronounce most of the local dialect (including native slang) of everyday language spoken by Hong Kong citizen. The system is tested to read different style of literatures: Classics, Poems, Fictions, News, Jokes, Advertisements, and Movie Scripts and offer a high literacy of the read out.

This system also caters for the Visual Impair Persons who control the program with Key-strokes instead of Mouse clicks – all functions in the program have the corresponding short-cut key-strokes.

Recently, MP3 player is getting very popular and the price is becoming very affordable. However, majority of the MP3 player users listen to Music. There may be a large population and potential that will use MP3 player to listen to information. We are dreaming a world that people will download a Newspaper, Magazine, or Fiction to MP3 player on demand. TTS technology enables a low cost and fast production of audio media and combining TTS and MP3, people can listen to the information at any time any where. Most important, no lighting, no glasses, no paper are required.

We also post a concept of e-Newspaper. Although PDA claims to be very handy for mobile information, however, due to the limitation in the size of the screen, reading large amount of text from PDA screen is an eye-sight burning exercise. If we can put only Headings/Graphics on the screen and the details are left for the user to click the Hyperlinks and then listen, we can include lots of information in a pocket size PDA screen.

“Point to the Titles, Listen to the details.”

PiTL believes that the merging of e-book, MP3 and TTS technologies will bring us a new information era.

Demo Version Download
Try out our demo at: speakd03.zip (9MB)

(Please read Installation.txt before install)

Purchase V3 Full-version: HKD200 per license (single user)

System requirements:
You: Understand Cantonese, Can read Chinese
Your PC:

Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, 2000, ME, 98

Set to support Traditional Chinese version (Big5 Character set)

Intel PIII 500Hz or above

128M RAM

Sound Card & Speaker

100M Free Hard-Disk Space in C: Drive

CD-ROM

Main Features

True Voice Sound Database is built on a high quality samples. This creates a more natural reading output. The MP3 files are written out at 64K encoding and is comparable to CD quality. In the future, more Sound Profiles will be created and will include different kind of expression and mood (such as: Happiness, Angriness, and Sadness). This is very difficult to be achieved by digital synthesis speech.

Variable By employing advanced DSP technologies, the reading speed can be adjusted at real-time without affecting the speech

Speed quality and pitch. Users can custom the reading speed to fit their preferences.

Rhythm Each sentence will be analyzed by the built-in AI mechanism and generated a reading tempo.

This will produce a more colorful sounding (especially fits for reading Chinese Poems).

Fast Real time reading. Batch processing of text files. (Individual file size can be up to 20K Chinese Characters). In 15 minutes, 20K Chinese Characters could be read to a total play time of 30 minutes MP3 files.( Intel P4 1GHz standard).

Accurate The system references to various Chinese dialect, linguistic and grammar dictionaries to handle the Polyphonic Characters in Cantonese. More than 90% accuracy can be achieved in reading all types of literatures ( News, Finance, Entertainments, Classics, Poems, and Fictions).

GB&BIG5 Build in GB to BIG5 Character set converter allows the system to process all Chinese characters.

English Most of the Chinese TTS will only pronounce the English alphabets. Our system handles a mixture of both Chinese and English.

This is of importance for nowadays text information.

(English TTS is provided by the Microsoft internal TTS engine which is installed in Window XP).

Custom Flexibility is built in the system that allows sound editing. Users can select the correct sounding for a character before MP3 generation.

Sound This will increase the literacy and make it simpler to handle the complex Chinese Language.

Hong Kong It is a Hong Kong style Cantonese speaking machine and can pronounce most of the local dialect (including native slang)

Style of everyday language spoken by Hong Kong people. The system will support HKSCS (Big5 extension for Hong Kong character set). Comics and Conversation scripts will be read out in a natural way.

Screen Shots

滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄。

是非成敗轉頭空。

青山依舊在，几度夕陽紅。

白發漁樵江渚上，慣看秋月春風。一壺濁酒喜相逢。

古今多少事，都付笑談中。

——調寄《臨江仙》

Listen：sample1.mp3

Custom Sound

Usually applies in Surname

曾(=zang1=) (曾(=zang1=)先生的曾(=zang1=))

曾 (曾經的曾)

有人參(=sam1=)加入 (人參(=sam1=)-保品)

有人參加入

Listen：custom01.mp3

Sample Readings

Finance

港股收市升216點

12月 9日星期二 16:20 更新

尾市有買盤支持，恆生指數收市報12393.64，升216.20，成交134億元。

長實(0001)報60.25元，升1元；和黃(0013)報54元，升0.5元；新地(0016)報65.25元。

匯豐(0005)報119元，升2元；恆生(0011)報101.5元，升1.5元。

Listen：stock01.mp3

Advertisement

Fashion One 開倉﹗

尚有兩星期，聖誕就殺到埋身。隨住經濟好轉，市面的確興旺起來，人人忙著蒐羅聖誕禮物，也忙著裝身參加派對去。想掃貨又不想太破費﹖當然要抓緊開倉這些良機。集多個國際級品牌和大師設計的鞋店-Fashion One，於今日開倉。所有鞋履、手袋、New Style 圍巾、皮草及配飾等，全部低至三折起。當中還有今季 New Times 和 Party Mood 等靚鞋選擇。想去派對時有對靚鞋著(=zoek3=)，記住時間去掃貨。

Listen：fashion01.mp3

Hong Kong Style dialect and slang

發達啦(=laa3=)! 我中(=zung3=)左今期嘰(=ge3=)六合彩喎(=wo3=), 呢次打跛腳下半世都唔使憂囉(=lo3=)!

真係?

唓(=ce1=),發白日夢咋, 唸(=lam2=)下(=haa5=)都冇咩問題架 (=gaa3=)嘛

Listen：chat01.mp3

Poem

金縷衣

勸君莫惜金縷衣，勸君惜取少年時。

花開堪折直須折，莫待無花空折枝。

Listen：poem01.mp3

Classic

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

選自: 三國演義

第一回: 宴桃園豪杰三結義,斬黃巾英雄首立功.

　　　滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄。是非成敗轉頭空。

　　　青山依舊在，几度夕陽紅。　　

白發漁樵江渚上，慣看秋月春風。

一壺濁酒喜相逢。古今多少事，都付笑談中。 ——調寄《臨江仙》

　　話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分。周末七國分爭，并入于秦。及秦滅之后，楚、漢分爭，又并入于漢。漢朝自高祖斬白蛇而起義，

一統天下，后來光武中興，傳至獻帝，遂分為三國。推其致亂之由，殆始于桓、靈二帝。桓帝禁錮善類，崇信宦官。及桓帝崩，靈帝即位，

大將軍竇武、太傅陳蕃共相輔佐。時有宦官曹節等弄權，竇武、陳蕃謀誅之，机事不密，反為所害，中涓自此愈橫。

　　建宁二年四月望日，帝御溫德殿。方升座，殿角狂風驟起。只見一條大青蛇，從梁上飛將下來，蟠于椅上。帝惊倒，左右急救入宮，

百官俱奔避。須臾，蛇不見了。忽然大雷大雨，加以冰雹，落到半夜方止，坏卻房屋無數。建宁四年二月，洛陽地震；又海水泛溢，沿海居民，

盡被大浪卷入海中。光和元年，雌雞化雄。六月朔，黑气十余丈，飛入溫德殿中。秋七月，有虹現于玉堂；五原山岸，盡皆崩裂。种种不祥，非止一端。

帝下詔問群臣以災异之由，議郎蔡邕上疏，以為蜺墮雞化，乃婦寺干政之所致，言頗切直。帝覽奏歎息，因起更衣。曹節在后竊視，悉宣告左右；

遂以他事陷邕于罪，放歸田里。后張讓、趙忠、封諝、段珪、曹節、侯覽、蹇碩、程曠、夏惲、郭胜十人朋比為奸，號為“十常侍”。帝尊信張讓，

呼為“阿父”。朝政日非，以致天下人心思亂，盜賊蜂起。

Listen：sgyy01.mp3(Fast); sgyy02.mp3(Slow)

A trail on Intonation

In this new version (V2), intonation elements are added in. This will it make more colorful when reading poems.

Listern

(More) 更多... (Chinese Only)

Applications

Besides personal use, there are several areas of application:

E-Book Publishing

Publishers, Writers and Media can think about offering MP3 e-Books or use it for Proof reading.

Teaching

MP3lecture notes, text book. Students can repeat a session for enforcing the memory.

Visual Impaired Person

The system has been sold to some VIPs. Their comments are “Those days of unnatural digital voice are gone. The system brings them more human

sounds”

Media/Multi-media

News, Weather, Finance updates, Speaking Web pages and G3 Mobiles can make use of the system to create MP3 sources.

MP3 Player

Most of the Music lovers have an MP3 player. How about “Information lovers” , “Gossip lovers”, “Book lovers” ?

There are big markets out there for us to explore.

Learn Cantonese

Cantonese is one of the oldest dialects in China. Many characters in classics and poems have the corresponding Cantonese

Sounds. It is also the most popular dialect in Hong Kong.

Contact Us

Pacific i-Technology Limited (PiTL)

E-mail: more@pitl.com

Tel: (852)-2992 7108

Pacific i-Technology Limited (PiTL) Email: more@pitl.com TEL:(852)-2992 7108