title: Exploring expressivity and emotion with artificial voice and speech technologies.
abstract: Emotion in audio-voice signals, as synthesized by text-to-speech (TTS) technologies, was investigated to formulate a theory of expression for user interface design. Emotional parameters were specified with markup tags, and the resulting audio was further modulated with post-processing techniques. Software was then developed to link a selected TTS synthesizer with an automatic speech recognition (ASR) engine, producing a chatbot that could speak and listen. Using these two artificial voice subsystems, investigators explored both artistic and psychological implications of artificial speech emotion. Goals of the investigation were interdisciplinary, with interest in musical composition, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), commercial voice announcement applications, human-computer interaction (HCI), and artificial intelligence (AI). The work-in-progress points towards an emerging interdisciplinary ontology for artificial voices. As one study output, HCI tools are proposed for future collaboration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Theatre, Film and Television, University of York , UK.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pauletto
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balentine
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pidcock
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bottaci
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aretoulaki
authors.forename: Jez
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Darren P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Mundy
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balentine
mesh_terms: D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003201:Computers; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003405:Creativity; D003463:Cues; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004644:Emotions; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D009146:Music; D013060:Speech; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013067:Speech Perception; D013694:Temperament; D014833:Voice Quality