Acapela Group RSS Feed

New genuine Australian voices for AAC! .

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 +0200

May 2nd, 2013

Acapela Group & AssistiveWare unveil genuine, natural-sounding Australian children's voices and a new female voice.

Acapela Group and AssistiveWare® B.V. are proud to unveil that the first ever genuine, natural-sounding Australian children's voices are now available in Proloquo2Go, a text-to-speech app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad designed to provide a voice for children who cannot speak. To complete the family today Proloquo2Go is also introducing Lisa, a new adult Australian female voice.
According to research, 1.3% of the Australian population, including approximately 35,000 children in Australia aged between 3 and 12 years, cannot rely on their natural speech to meet their daily communication needs. The new Australian children voices, Liam and Olivia, were recorded by and for children and, are now available for users to select as their preferred text-to-speech voice to communicate a want, need or thought using symbol-based communication or when typing with word-prediction.
"The new Australian children's voices will finally enable our children without speech to talk like their friends. Having an age appropriate voice, which not only speaks with an Australian accent but also provides children with access to the Aussie vocabulary, will have a positive impact on their social and communication development - in more ways than we can imagine. I look forward to hearing lots of happy little Vegemites using these voices in homes, shops, schools and the great outdoors!," said Jane Farrall, Speech Pathologist and Special Educator.
Proloquo2Go already provides a voice to over 50,000 users around the world, including over 5,000 Australians. Approximately 60% of the Proloquo2Go user base is 11-years-old or younger (as young as 2-years-old), yet prior to these new voices, Australian children only had access to an adult Australian male voice. This was one of the primary motivators for creating the child voices - to have a product that more accurately represents its users.
Hear a vocie sample of Olivia
Hear a voice sample of Liam
hear a voice Samples of Lisa
Meet the full Australian voices family
Commenting on the launch of the Australian children's voices, founder and CEO of AssistiveWare, David Niemeijer said, "Last year we introduced British and American children voices, which have already seen over 15,000 downloads and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Children and their parents have credited Proloquo2Go with a major improvement in their daily communication."
"Often, we hear that the cognitive and emotional skills of children are finally understood after using Proloquo2Go, where previously the child may have never been able to verbalise or express his or her thoughts. We are excited that those phrases will finally resemble the child's own voice."
"This groundbreaking project is the first of its kind in the industry," said Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group. "With over 2,000 hours of research, recording, processing and development, the new Australian children's voices are a fulfilling milestone and a reflection of our longtime leadership in this field."
The Australian children's voices and female voice are included in the Proloquo2Go text-to-speech app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad through a free 3.0 version update released today on the App Store. Version 3.0 also adds a number of other major features, including ExpressivePower(tm) and access for people with motor challenges who have difficulty using iPad's touch interface. After October 2013, the new Australian children voices will be available for licensing to other developers to utilise in their apps and communication devices, allowing even more children to access programs with voices that resemble their own.
The collaboration between Acapela Group and AssistiveWare dates back to 2003 when AssistiveWare was the first company to build a Mac product using the natural-sounding Acapela voices. Both companies share a strong dedication to the assistive technology market and were natural partners to tackle the challenges of developing children's voices designed for people who cannot speak. Acapela Group brought decades of experience in building natural-sounding text-to-speech voices. AssistiveWare brought its experience in working with people with speech-impairments though its BETT 2011 award-winning Proloquo2Go augmentative and alternative communication app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
The Proloquo2Go text-to-speech application is available for $199.99 from the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad or at http://appstore.com/proloquo2go. Version 3.0 includes the new Australian female and children voices as free downloads and is available at no charge to existing users.
For videos that include: a behind the scenes look at how children's voices are made, how text-to-speech works, some short interviews, and the impact Proloquo2Go and these new voices have, visit: http://www.assistiveware.com/american-childrens-voices.
About AssistiveWare
AssistiveWare®, a leading innovator of assistive technology software for iOS and Mac OS X with over 125,000 customers worldwide, is committed to collaborating with the global community to make a difference in peoples lives. The company's flagship product, Proloquo2Go®, is an award-winning Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) application for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch that provides a "voice" for people who have difficulty speaking or cannot speak at all. Founded in 2000, AssistiveWare was the first company to deliver universal access to Mac OS X with its award-winning KeyStrokes(tm) on-screen keyboard and the first to create genuine children's Text to Speech voices. Focused on its vision to empower people through innovative technology, AssistiveWare offers a wide-range of assistive technology products and services.
About Acapela Group
Acapela Group invents speech solutions that bring content to life through giving it a voice in up to 30 languages. More than 60 resounding synthetic, yet natural sounding voices as well as new, authentic American and British children's voices are ready to vocalize written content into a pleasant audio result. Acapela Group's repertoire includes producing a wide-ranging library of voices including voices that have: accents or specific dialect attributes, singing or storytelling ability, different moods and emphasis, voices for all ages and all languages and recognizable characters or celebrities. Each audio selection is authentic sounding, unique and original, presenting a distinct personality that perfectly matches different contexts. More than just simple vocalization of texts, Acapela Group aims to add a subtle layer of intelligence and significantly enrich audio dimension by offering more meaning and intent to each voice.

Infovox4: All-in-one local & portable Talking companion for visually impaired users .

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0200

April 23rd, 2013

New version!
Innovative yet simple and all-in-one product for seamless access to written information, no matter where the user is, at home, in the office or on the move using different computers. Infovox4 uses Acapela speech synthesis, speech empowers any PC with pleasant voices, transforming any written text into speech, in real time.
NEW BENEFITS!Windows 8 supportImproved intelligibility at high reading speed using the new "small and fast" Colibri voices, based on a brand new technology developed by Acapela Group.Possibility to modify pitch with the new Colibri voices.On/off switch for verbose mode that expands acronyms, abbreviations and datum. Add and remove voices at any time and free of charge, using the new Download Manager application. Menu-based GUI for easier navigation using screen reader applications.26 languages / 62 voices including Australian English (voice Tyler) & Swedish dialects Scania (voice Mia) and Gothenburg (voice Kal).

Includes both a portable USB solution and 3 local installations, which follow users as they work on different PCs.Portable usage from USB allows immediate access to any computer, without need of installing locally or admin rightsLocal installations will function even without a USB plugged into the computerPossibility to transfer local installations to and from the USB at any time
The end user has access to all voices in all languages included in the license - with different genders and voice personas - so that user feels fully comfortable with the voices that become daily companions. The choice between languages provides access to information in foreign languages as well as language learning.
infovox4 is packaged with several useful applications, that can be easily launched from the infovox4 LaunchPad application. The NVDA screen reader help the user accessing a computer when no other screen reader is pre-installed. The Speech Creator enables easy creation of MP3 files for personal use, from any text file. The Pronunciation Editor allows easy management of lexicons and exceptions, to fine tune and customize the way names and exceptions are pronounced. The Download Manager allows to add and remove voices locally. The Voice Manager allows to create new voices with particular settings. The Configuration Wizard will guide step by step through installation and configuration of infovox4 on the computer.
More product information here

Communication aid: Lightwriter Swift helps users to engage fully in social situations with Acapela voices..

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0100

February 21st, 2013

Just slightly bigger than a smartphone, the latest text to speech communication device from Toby Churchill has been designed for literate people to help them communicate more confidently and fluently with anyone. It enables users to generate words, phrases and sentences rapidly, to be an active participant in the conversation, and to make themselves clearly heard.

"Conversational analysis has shown that you've got as little as half a second to get a response into a conversation," said Neel Shearer, Product Manager at Toby Churchill. "Lightwriter Swift will allow you to do that."
The Lightwriter Swift has been designed for enhanced interactive conversation with its unique dual screen technology. It delivers high quality sound through dual speakers with responsive, natural-sounding speech from Acapela.
Acapela text to speech turns written messages into a pleasant voice instantaneously. Quick touch controls with joystick access enhance device ease of use and rapid access to 'social sounds' help to get end user's message across within the context of the conversation, providing a perfectly natural and audible output even in a noisy environment.
The new Lightwriter Swift is aimed at people who have lost their speech through stroke, brain injury or cancer as well as those living with conditions such as cerebral palsy and motor neurone disease.

The pocket-sized dedicated device already speaks English (UK & US) and will be soon available in the same range of Acapela voices that all other Lightwriter devices are: Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, French Canadian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish.
To date, more than 40,000 people around the world have used a Lightwriter to aid their communication. Lightwriters are exported to 23 different countries and are available in 13 different languages.
http://www.toby-churchill.com/lightwriter-community
About Toby Churchill:
Founded in 1973, Toby Churchill Limited has a long and rich history. The founder, Toby Churchill, pioneered the first keyboard-based communication device - the Lightwriter - over 40 years ago. Today, Toby Churchill Limited is a leading, global provider of high-tech augmentative communication solutions.
Our range of communication products, in 13 languages, supports the particular and changing needs of people living with speech impairments. Acapela speech technology is the underpinning for this multilingual support.
Dedicated to researching and developing products and services which are reliable and dependable, we strive to meet and exceed customer expectations. Our guiding principle is the seamless integration of people and technologies. By working closely with researchers, academic institutions and high quality partner companies such as Acapela, we continually explore new developments to expand on the solutions we provide and the needs we serve. We are privileged to work as part of this amazing community.
http://www.toby-churchill.com

Industrial Supervision: Acapela Group signs an agreement with Delta Technologies Sud-Ouest pertaining to vocal alarms.

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0100

January 15th, 2013

Acapela Group, leader in speech synthesis, and Delta Technologies, electronics and industrial IT specialist, have signed an agreement relating to the development and commercialization of Speech Unit, created for the surveillance of sensitive industrial sites.
Speech Unit is a powerful hardware unit which boosts the performance of the industrial supervision system SCADA (Supervision, Alarm and Data Acquisition) by integrating intelligent vocal alarms and creating a highly effective and secure machine > man dialogue.
Speech Unit has been deployed with great success for 10 years by Acapela in more than 1000 industrial sites to give a voice to totally automatic, unmanned, installations which need tight surveillance: petrol and gas refineries, power stations, water treatment plants etc. The alerts are transmitted vocally and in real time via synthetic voice directly to the person responsible, ensuring awareness of any problems and an ultra rapid response.
Acapela is transferring this activity, which has become a reference in an ultra specialised domain, because it wants to focus exclusively on the development and creation of synthetic voice software, a very dynamic market due to the profusion of new interfaces and interactive content. Delta Technologies has been able to enhance its line with a unique and inventive product which has been adopted by such major players as INEO, CNES, VEOLIA, GDF SUEZ….
Through this agreement, which came into force 1 January 2013, Speech Unit's numerous clients will be able to continue to install and use the intelligent vocal alarm as part of their supervision strategies while at the same time benefiting from all the latest innovations and advances in Acapela speech synthesis and the new developments and services emanating from Delta Technologies' own industrial expertise.
For more information about Speech Unit and this agreement: contact@delta-technologies.fr and info@acapela-group.com
About Delta Technologies - http://www.delta-technologies.fr

Free Talking widget: Put a bad guy on your blog or give it a Royal British tone !.

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0100

December 5th, 2012

Our popular talking widget now offers all the voices of our repertoire (including country, hiphop, child or expressive voices,...).
Get Yours!

All you have to do is to select your favorite voice (may be the most tricky part of the game!), then adjust the color, resize -or not- the widget and don't forget to add your personal welcome message. Copy/paste the few lines of codes on your website to get your own talkative spot on your pages. That's it. your blog now speaks. Tell us which voice is your favorite one.
Use it either to support you in your language learning with some words or phrases, to animate your blog, to read simple messages that you would like to hear rather than read... It's up to you to make it speak the way you like with you favourite voice!
Get yours at www.acapela-group.com/text-to-speech-widget-blog.html
Acapela Talking widget uses Acapela VaaS solution which allows to turn any written text into speech, in real time. Full interactive demo on www.acapela-group.com.

New voices available on the interactive demo .

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100

November 19th, 2012

Try them on the interactive demo.
Type in your own words and hear how your content may sound depending on the voice you choose. Select any of the Child voices ; Will or Antoine in different moods; Queen Elizabeth; Australian Tyler; Hip hop Saul; Country Micah, Dimitris, Jeroen or Margaux either happy or sad. Ask Will the story teller to be a 'bad guy' or a 'little creature'.
Acapela's repertoire includes voices of characters or celebrities, with accents or specific dialect attributes, that sing or tell stories, that can adopt different moods, for all ages and all languages. Because one voice cannot answer all and any needs, we aim to provide a resounding repertoire. And we can create the voice you need. Just for you. This is Acapela bespoke expertise.
More than just simple vocalization of texts, Acapela aims to add a subtle layer of intelligence, to significantly enrich audio dimension with more meaning and intent.
Full list of new voices available in the interactive demo:Rosie and Harry (UK English - child)Ella and Josh (US English - child)Micah (US English - 'Country')Saul (US English - 'hiphop')Tyler (Australian English)Will (US English - Happy, sad, upClose, fromAFar, bad guy, little creature, old man)Antoine (French - Happy, Sad, upClose, fromAFar)Margaux (Happy - happy or sad)Jeroen (Dutch BE - happy or sad)Dimitris (Greek - happy or sad)Queen Elizabeth (UK English)

Try the Children voices! .

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100

November 9th, 2012

Rosie, Harry, Josh and Ella, the English children voices developed with Assistiveware are now available on Acapela's interactive demo.
Try it out with your own words. Type in your text or dialogue and hear how it sounds like with world's first genuine, natural-sounding children's voices. A world premiere that will change the life of young users allowing them to access programs with voices that resemble their own. Made by and for children.
To read the full story and look at the making of, click here - for the interactive demo, click here.

(General availability January 2013 - don't hesitate to contact us for more information)

Children voices now available in infovox iVox.

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0100

November 6th, 2012

Infovox iVox adds first genuine children's voices to Mac OS X
Acapela Group and AssistiveWare(R) announced the release of Infovox iVox 3.1, which adds to the repertoire the first four genuine, natural-sounding children's voices, now available on Mac OS X as well as three new male voices.

Infovox iVox(tm) provides system-wide clear and pleasant voices to Mac OS X for blind and vision impaired users, for individuals who need audible feedback or reading support, for language learning or for people who prefer listening to their computer.

To support the needs of our younger users, Infovox iVox 3.1 now offers four genuine children's text to speech voices: boy and girl voice for both American English and British English. The high-quality voices were recorded by and for children.
Learn more about how these voices were made and how Text to Speech works here.

In addition, the update offers three new male voices: two American voices, Will and the southern-sounding Micah voice as well as the Australian Tyler voice. Besides adding new voices, Infovox iVox 3.1 also fixes an issue with characters with diacritical marks. Words that contain accents will now be pronounced correctly in any foreign language.
The voices work with any Mac application, including Apple's VoiceOver, TextEdit, Preview, Safari, Adobe's Acrobat Reader, AssistiveWare's VisioVoice, Proloquo and GhostReader.
More info about Infovox iVox 3.1 here.

Google Play: Personalize your android device with the voice you like..

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200

September 20th, 2012

Play with voices: a unique repertoire brought to you by Acapela
Your phone gets wallpapers, ringtones and widgets and plenty of apps and games that follow you around all the time. But what about a voice? Now, you can download the Acapela TTS Voices app, listen to any of the 50 voices available in 26 languages and select one voice or more to turn your Android device into a smart talking companion - for only 3.99 euros/voice.

Acapela TTS Voices app offers 400 million Android users the opportunity to easily add a pleasant voice to speech empower their Google Play apps. Every day around one million new Android users can tune into the voice of their choice. First feedback from beta testers confirmed that users really want and appreciate pleasant, clear and responsive natural voices.
Here are some comments we received:
"I just installed the voices, and bought Rachel. I am loving this. The voices are so responsive, it is really good",
"Great app. Smoothest talk app I have ever heard",
"Good voices! It works perfectly on my HTC Hero. Very good voice quality! "
or "Working very well as Google navigation voice assistant. True Indian voice. "Voices all simply here!
Arabic, Catalan, Chinese (Mandarin), Czech, Danish, Dutch (NL, Belgium), English (UK, US, India, Australia), Finnish, French (France, Canada), German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil), Spanish (Spain, North America), Russian, Swedish and Turkish are already available with a resounding repertoire of 50 authentic voices, including Swedish dialects, local accents and even the voice of Queen Elizabeth.
They are all ready to vocalize the content of your android device into a natural and pleasant audio result, by turning written input into speech in real time.

Have a look at the talkative apps gallery and see at a glance where and how an Acapela voice can be a great talking partner to read aloud texts from your e-book or newspaper, navigate with Google Navigation or other GPS apps, hear real time translation, learn languages with audio feedback and much more!

Acapela voices are compatible with Android Accessibility features and screen readers (Google TalkBack, Code Factory Mobile Speak, Spiel …)
For further information, click HERE - For download, click HERE

Acapela TTS voices app has been designed for Android end users.
We invite developers to register on http://www.acapela-for-android.com to try the evaluation SDK and easily add a vocal dimension, in many languages, to all their applications.

Acapela TTS voices are available on Google Play as in-app purchase at 3.99 euros per voice.

News from acapela-box.com.

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200

September 19th, 2012

Chinese and Japanese voices now available, support of phonetic transcriptions and a new corporate pack.
'Lulu' and 'Sakura' have joined the brilliant repertoire of acapela box, the on line smart service for easy production of voice files. Also part of the news, the support of phonetic transcriptions by the Pronunciation Editor & a new 500€ package that provides more credits for money, for companies who need to create large amount of files. Acapela-box packs now ranges from 5 to 500 euros to answer to all different needs and usages.

Check out acapela-box, register for free and test the service.

American genuine children's voices! AssistiveWare and Acapela group unveil genuine, natural-sounding Children's Voices For Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0200

July 25th, 2012

American Girl and Boy Voices Now Available in the Proloquo2Go App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
Acapela Group and AssistiveWare are proud to unveil the first American genuine, natural-sounding children's voices now available in Proloquo2Go, designed to provide a voice for children who cannot speak. The US Census Bureau estimates that as many as 720,000 American children aged between 6 and 14-years-old have significant speech problems and difficulties being understood.[1]
The American children voices, Josh and Ella, were recorded by and for children. Users can select the authentic boy or girl as their preferred Text to Speech voice to speak a want, need or thought using symbol-based communication or typing with word-prediction. The voices are included in the Proloquo2Go App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch through a new free 2.1 version update released today on the App Store. flashelement:joshandella
After December 2012, these new voices will be available for licensing to other developers to utilize in their apps and communication devices, allowing even more children to access programs with voices that resemble their own.
"It is a really exciting advancement in the field of augmentative and alternative communication to finally have excellent, natural-sounding voices for young children," said Joan Bruno, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Director, Communication Technology Resources.
"This groundbreaking project is the first of its kind in the industry," said Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group. "With over 2,500 hours of research, recording, processing and development, the new children's voices are a fulfilling result and a reflection of our longtime leadership in this field."
Proloquo2Go already provides a voice to tens of thousands of users around the world. About 60% of the Proloquo2Go user base is 11-years-old or younger (as young as 2-years-old), yet prior to these new voices, children could only select adult voices or artificially emulated children's voices. This was one of the primary motivators for creating the child voices - to have a product that more accurately represents its users.
"We have already received positive feedback from children and their parents that the unique voice offering in Proloquo2Go makes a positive difference in how they communicate," said David Niemeijer, founder and CEO of AssistiveWare. "Often, we hear that the cognitive and emotional skills of children are finally understood because prior to using Proloquo2Go, the child may have never been able to verbalize or express his or her thoughts. We are excited that those phrases will finally resemble the child's own voice."flashelement:usvoices
The collaboration between Acapela Group and AssistiveWare dates back to 2003 when AssistiveWare was the first company to build a Mac product using the natural-sounding Acapela voices. Both companies share a strong dedication to the assistive technology market and were natural partners to tackle the challenges of developing children's voices designed for people who cannot speak. Acapela Group brought decades of experience in building natural-sounding Text to Speech voices. AssistiveWare brought its experience in working with people with speech-impairments though its BETT 2011 award-winning Proloquo2Go augmentative and alternative communication app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
The Proloquo2Go App is available for $189.99 from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. Version 2.1 includes the new American children voices as free downloads and is available at no charge to existing users.
For videos that include: a behind the scenes look at the project, how Text to Speech works, some short interviews, and the impact Proloquo2Go and these new voices have visit: http://www.assistiveware.com/american-childrens-voices.
About AssistiveWare
Founded in 2000, AssistiveWare has established itself as the worldwide leader in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X and iOS. AssistiveWare works in close collaboration with end users and professionals to offer a portfolio of award-winning solutions for individuals with physical, vision, communication, and reading impairments. In 2002, AssistiveWare was the first company to deliver universal access to Mac OS X with the KeyStrokes on-screen keyboard. Always innovating, AssistiveWare was also the first company to release a full-featured Augmentative and Alternative Communication solution for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch - the award-winning app, Proloquo2Go. Recently AssistiveWare released Pictello, an exciting multilingual visual story telling app for iOS.
About Acapela Group
Acapela Group invents speech solutions that bring content to life through giving it a voice in up to 30 languages. More than 60 resounding synthetic, yet natural sounding voices as well as new, authentic British children's voices are ready to vocalize written content into a pleasant audio result. Acapela Group's repertoire includes producing a wide-ranging library of voices including voices that have: accents or specific dialect attributes, singing or storytelling ability, different moods and emphasis, voices for all ages and all languages and recognizable characters or celebrities. Each audio selection is authentic sounding, unique and original, presenting a distinct personality that perfectly matches different contexts. More than just simple vocalization of texts, Acapela Group aims to add a subtle layer of intelligence and significantly enrich audio dimension by offering more meaning and intent to each voice.
Media Contact:
Heather Sorensen
Plugged In PR for AssistiveWare and Acapela Group
503-841-0625
heather@pluggedinpr.com
[1] US Census Bureau (2008) "Americans With Disabilities: 2005", US Census Bureau, December 2008.
URL: http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-117.pdf

2.5 million talkative apps !.

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0200

June 27th, 2012

Our acapela-for-iphone gallery is proud to feature 100 talking apps, using Acapela voices for many different purposes: RSS & web readers, translation and language learning, navigation and GPS, accessibility and A.A.C., eBook readers utilities, education, productivity, sport, health or social networking.

We did the Math: 2,5 million apps speech empowered by acapela voices have been downloaded so far & are doing their talkative job the world over. Thank you to all the smart users and developers!

Developers can use any of the Acapela voices to turn written content into a pleasant audio result with Acapela TTS for iPhone and iPad SDK. It has been designed for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad developer community to easily add a vocal dimension, in many languages, to all their applications.

Sign up for free on Acapela TTS for iPhone and iPad Website to download the evaluation SDK and get access to related information.

and for Android apps, follow the link: acapela-for-android.com

AssistiveWare and Acapela Group Unveil World's First Genuine, Natural-Sounding British Children's Voices For Augmentative and Alternative Communication.

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0200

June 19th, 2012

British Girl and Boy Voices Now Available in the Proloquo2Go App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Acapela Group and AssistiveWare are proud to unveil the world's first genuine, natural-sounding children's voices now available in Proloquo2Go, designed to provide a voice to over 74,000 children and teens in England who cannot speak for themselves [1].

The voices of British children Harry and Rosie were recorded by and for children. Users can select the authentic boy or girl as their preferred Text to Speech voice to speak a want, need or thought using symbol-based communication or typing with word-prediction. The voices are included in the Proloquo2Go App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch through a new free update released today on the App Store. After December 2012, these new voices will be available for licensing to other developers to utilize in their apps and communication devices, allowing even more children to access programs with voices that resemble their own.
flashelement:kids
'These new voices will further transform the lives of children who cannot speak and the lives of those around them,' said Anna Reeves, National AAC Coordinator for England. 'It may be the very first time that families hear their own children speak with a child's voice - you can't put a price on that.'

'This groundbreaking project is the first of its kind in the industry,' said Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group. 'With over 2,500 hours of research, recording, processing and development, the new children's voices are a fulfilling result and a reflection of our longtime leadership in this field.'

Proloquo2Go already provides a voice to tens of thousands of users around the world. In addition to the new children's voices, the new 2.0 version also includes enhanced customization tools, new research-based vocabularies, a total of seven new voices and an improved user-interface.

'We have already received positive feedback from children and their parents that the unique voice offering in Proloquo2Go makes a positive difference in how they communicate,' said David Niemeijer, founder and CEO of AssistiveWare. 'Often, we hear that the cognitive and emotional skills of children are finally understood because prior to using Proloquo2Go, the child may have never been able to verbalize or express his or her thoughts. We are excited that those phrases will finally resemble the child's own voice.'

About 60% of the Proloquo2Go user base is 11-years-old or younger, yet prior to these new voices, children could only select adult voices or artificially emulated children's voices. This was one of the primary motivators for creating the child voices - to have a product that more accurately represents its users.
flashelement:ruby
The collaboration between Acapela Group and AssistiveWare dates back to 2003 when AssistiveWare was the first company to build a Mac product using the natural-sounding Acapela voices. Both companies share a strong dedication to the assistive technology market and were natural partners to tackle the challenges of developing children's voices designed for people who cannot speak. Acapela Group brought decades of experience in building natural-sounding Text to Speech voices. AssistiveWare brought its experience in working with people with speech-impairments though its BETT 2011 award-winning Proloquo2Go augmentative and alternative communication app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The Proloquo2Go App is available for 129.99 GBP from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at http://itunes.com/apps/proloquo2go. The update to version 2.0, including the new British children's voices, is free to existing users.

For videos that include: a behind the scenes look at the project, how Text to Speech works, some short interviews, and the impact Proloquo2Go and these new voices have on Ruby, a 6-year-old girl from Bristol visit: http://www.assistiveware.com/british-childrens-voices.
[1] September 2011 Report by Communication Matters: http://www.communicationmatters.org.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/standards/aac_quality_standard_for_commissioners_sept_2011.pdf
About AssistiveWare:
Founded in 2000, AssistiveWare has established itself as the worldwide leader in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X and iOS. AssistiveWare works in close collaboration with end users and professionals to offer a portfolio of award-winning solutions for individuals with physical, vision, communication, and reading impairments. In 2002, AssistiveWare was the first company to deliver universal access to Mac OS X with the KeyStrokes on-screen keyboard. Always innovating, AssistiveWare was also the first company to release a full-featured Augmentative and Alternative Communication solution for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch - the award-winning app, Proloquo2Go. Recently AssistiveWare released Pictello, an exciting multilingual visual story telling app for iOS.

About Acapela Group:
Acapela Group invents speech solutions that bring content to life through giving it a voice in up to 30 languages. More than 60 resounding synthetic, yet natural sounding voices as well as new, authentic British children's voices are ready to vocalize written content into a pleasant audio result. Acapela Group's repertoire includes producing a wide-ranging library of voices including voices that have: accents or specific dialect attributes, singing or storytelling ability, different moods and emphasis, voices for all ages and all languages and recognizable characters or celebrities. Each audio selection is authentic sounding, unique and original, presenting a distinct personality that perfectly matches different contexts. More than just simple vocalization of texts, Acapela Group aims to add a subtle layer of intelligence and significantly enrich audio dimension by offering more meaning and intent to each voice.

Media Contact
Heather Sorensen
Plugged In PR for AssistiveWare and Acapela Group
503-841-0625
heather@pluggedinpr.com

New iOs app for visually impaired: BlindSquare helps blind people to find the right places.

Wed, 30 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200

May 30th, 2012

"What is the most popular café within 200 meters radius?': listen to BlindSquare talking app designed to help visually impaired users to find the right places.
BlindSquare, provides visually impaired people new ways to get information on their surroundings. It has recently been launched in Apple App Store and is currently available for iPad and iPhone.
BlindSquare combines location information (GPS), speech synthesis and some public databases in order to provide the desired information to its user. It can tell the blind person their current address (based on location), where is the nearest crossing, all the shops and services found in a certain radius - and much more. It can even asssist them to get off the bus at the right stop or guide them to a certain place.
BlindSquare speaks English, Finnish and Swedish, speech synthesis is provided by Acapela Group.

MIPsoft has been developing this application in close co-operation with Finnish Federation for Visually Impaired. It has been tested by many blind users - some even from USA and Australia.
MIPsoft, founded in 1989, is a software company specialized in developing applications for mobile smartphones. The most known applications are Kyyti, assisting those who use public transportation, and Kierrätys, that can help in finding all recycling centers in Finland.
Finnish Federation for Visually Impaired - FFVI - is a national organisation. Its aim is to secure blind and partially sighted an equal status with other Finnish citizens. FFVI produces special information services and participates in developing special information and mobility solutions.
BlindSquare on the Apple appstore

Accessibility & voice expertise in Frankfurt..

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200

May 21st, 2012

Meet Acapela team during Sight City, the German's exhibition for aids for the blind and the visually impaired that will take place in Frankfurt from May 23-25th.
Acapela will be happy to welcome you on Optelec booth (A7)
http://www.sightcity.net/2012/en/

Voices for Mac OS X: Infovox iVox 3 provides 25 languages and 19 new voices.

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

April 12th, 2012

Today AssistiveWare and Acapela Group proudly announced the release of Infovox iVox 3, smooth and pleasant text to speech voices for Mac OS X.
Infovox iVox 3 brings natural-sounding text to speech within reach of many more students, educators, and consumers, including people with vision, reading and speech impairments on a tight budget.
Infovox iVox 3 provides 61 system-wide voices in 25 languages to Mac OS X users. Among which 14 new natural-sounding voices in the following languages: German, Arabic, French, Norwegian, Dutch, Indian English, American English, British English, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Danish and Flemish. It also offers three new dialects: Catalan Spanish, Finish Swedish and Indian English. In addition, the software adds two specialty voices: the Hip Hop voice "Saul" and the voice of Queen Elizabeth. These voices work with almost any application, including Apple's VoiceOver, TextEdit, Preview, Safari, Adobe's Acrobat Reader, AssistiveWare's VisioVoice, Proloquo and GhostReader.

With Infovox iVox 3 it is no longer required to purchase all voices for a language at once. Based on user feedback the voices can now be purchased à la carte, with prices starting at $20 (North America) and € 20 excluding VAT (elsewhere) for use on up to two computers. Discounts are available for multiple voice and multiple computer licenses. The new model and pricing not only offers customers the ability to hand pick the voices they want, but for many languages also means a 20 to 80% price reduction. .

From within the Infovox iVox Voice Manager a 30-day fully-functional trial of each voice can be downloaded, which enables a thorough evaluation before purchase. Infovox iVox is a free update for our existing users and will include all the new standard voices in the language for which the user is licensed.Infovox iVox 3 requires an Intel Mac with Mac OS X 10.4 or later and is fully compatible with Mac OS X Lion (10.7).

For more information and a fully-functional demo please see the product webpage. You can also contact one of our distributors such as Origin Instruments Corporation for North America or Kallysta for France.
AssistiveWare is the worldwide leader in innovative assistive technology software for Mac OS X and iOS. This includes award-winning KeyStrokes(tm) and TouchStrokes(tm) virtual keyboards, SwitchXS(tm) scanning on-screen keyboard, LayoutKitchen(tm) panel editor, Proloquo(tm) multi-purpose speech solution, award-winning VisioVoice(tm) for vision impaired Mac users, Pictello(tm) visual story-telling app for iOS as well as the ground breaking and award-winning Proloquo2Go® communication solution for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The ConvenienceWare product line makes the advanced technologies developed by AssistiveWare available in cool and convenient applications that make the life of Mac users easier.
AssistiveWare and ConvenienceWare are trade names and registered trademarks of AssistiveWare B.V. GhostReader, VisioVoice, SwitchXS, KeyStrokes, TouchStrokes, LayoutKitchen, Proloquo2Go and Proloquo are trademarks or registered trademarks of AssistiveWare B.V. Infovox iVox is a trademark of Acapela Group. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Developer Contest - SoundCloud + Acapela Group Mashup.

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

April 5th, 2012

SoundCloud -world's leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere.- is teaming up with Acapela Group for its first Developer Contest.
Acapela Group offers amazing text to speech solutions and have a variety of SDKs so you can write apps that create sound files using one of their voices (including hip-hop and country!). Take a listen to some sample voices.

We're calling on our developer community to mashup SoundCloud and Acapela. Show us what you can do using a text to speech service with the best audio content platform on the web. Maybe you want to have your email read (or sung!) to you layered on some instrumental or drum tracks. We think there are loads of options for making interesting and accessible apps using these two services.
This is a chance to get creative and show us something useful and fun. The 2nd and 3rd place picks will get some awesome headphones from our contest sponsor, Monster, and 1st place will get a 1 year subscription to Acapela VaaS as well as something extra special from Monster (to be announced very soon).
The deadline for submissions is May 1st. That gives you just under a month to check out our API docs and get started with an Acapela SDK.Sign up for a free Acapela evaluation account.
When you're ready, you can send us your submission using this form
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MyBlee for iPad - a talkative companion helping elementary and middle school kids through chat-filled homework.

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100

March 20th, 2012

Designed by teachers and tested by children, MyBlee is a super-interactive educational app for students in elementary and middle school. MyBlee speaks, explains, encourages and congratulates, through adapted exercises based on play.

Acapela's synthetic voice vocalises the content and helps create a speaking, lively, very effective interface which is immediately adopted by young iPad users who converse with MyBlee entirely autonomously and at their own pace. They immediately hear the answer to a calculation, or a spelling, or another problem which has been set. The synthetic voice is clear and as intelligible as it is natural. The application also uses handwriting and voice recognition to create a real exchange with the young user.
flashelement:mybleeenglish
In addition to interactivity, one of MyBlee's guiding principals is respect for the natural rhythm and level of understanding of the child. Everything is done to ensure children progress at their own pace. In the exercises, difficulties such as response time adapt in line with the child's progress and acquired knowledge. This individual and specially tailored learning promotes autonomy, while at the same time offers parents a dedicated space to follow and better encourage their child.

Two modules are available and included in the application on the Apple appstore: 'recognise shapes'& 'multiply by 10, 100, 1000'. Other modules will soon be available as in-app purchase, at 1,99 USD.

More information about MyBlee at: http://www.myblee.info

Year of the Dragon: chat in Chinese and share New Year greetings using Acapela's Mandarin text to speech voice! .

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100

January 23rd, 2012

Meet 'Lulu', Acapela's brand new Mandarin voice, and select her as your spokesperson for cheerful & chatty greetings.

Happy New Year from Lulu!
To introduce herself to the Chinese community, Lulu is providing the voice for 'Little Dragon', a free greetings card designed to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Available on acapela.tv, the 'Little Dragon' talking e-card will offer Chinese speaking people around the world the possibility to exchange greetings and best wishes using Acapela text to speech.
Text to speech transforms any text into spoken words in real time, opening up unexpected ways to communicate. The Internet user types in a greeting and Lulu comes in to turn the words, written in Chinese, into a pleasant audio result. A single click brings 'Little Dragon' to life and delivers the personal message, as immediate and effective as the spoken word.
Acapela Group, the voice expert, is happy and proud to launch Lulu at the same time as this very special and important occasion for Chinese people. The Mandarin voice is joining the company's multilingual portfolio and will open up new territory for Acapela text to speech.
Lulu is responding to the demands of Acapela's customers and partners for linguistic coverage of China and provides Chinese companies with a natural and high quality text to speech voice. Lulu will be available for use throughout the range of Acapela solutions, providing a voice for any application or service that needs to speak to facilitate access to content - IVR, mobile apps, accessibility solutions, education, audio publishing, mobile internet or cloud computing, to mention but a few.
'We are very happy to be launching our Mandarin voice to coincide with the Chinese New Year. We hope that Dragon's energy, vitality and unbridled enthusiasm will bring luck and success to Lulu. We are proud to add the Chinese language to our multilingual portfolio and we are very excited about upcoming deployments. Meanwhile, we look forward to Little Dragon performing Chinese greetings and spreading the word ' adds Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group.
Little Dragon, as part of acapela.tv chatty characters, shares the possibilities of speech synthesis with Internet users and allows the user to evaluate the advantages speech synthesis can bring to many different business and entertainment environments. Acapela.tv shows how far speech synthesis can help companies develop their brand awareness and add audible value to their content and messages. Meet the 'Little Dragon' and Lulu at http://www.acapela.tv/en/talking-card/LittleDragon
Visit Acapela Weibo page at http://www.weibo.com/u/2563838447

Education needs -Talking stories on iPhone and iPad with Pictello.

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

December 13th, 2011

Pictello is a nice and easy application developed by AssistiveWare to share fun and content.
Teachers, parents and kids can use it to create talking picture books and develop literacy and narrative skills. Kids with special needs can use it to communicate, teachers and parents to facilitate comprehension or develop learning supports.
Pictello is a simple way to create talking books, photo albums, tutorials on iPhone and iPad. To create a page, add an image, up to five lines of text, plus audio content, and play the story! The audio part can be either a recorded voice or a text vocalized by Acapela natural text to speech voices.
Share comments and memories with a photo album, present something you like, develop a quick tutorial to help the kids using visual and audio support, tell your own story with pictures and dialogue using Acapela's repertoire of natural voices, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Pictello has been developed for all ages and skill levels and does not require reading skills to locate and read stories. It offers an easy visual story creation wizard so anyone can use pictures and sound to share important moments in their lives. An advanced editor gives full control of the editing capabilities.
Acapela text to speech empowers Pictello with a wide range of voice persona to bring any story imaginable to life. It perfectly converts any text into pleasant speech for a pleasing audio result. North American English male and female voices are included, and up to 50 voices and 21 languages and dialects available as free downloads! Pictello does not require an active Internet connection for story creation or playback.
The current version of Pictello is localized in English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch and Turkish.
Stories can be shared using iTunes File Sharing or via WiFi with other Pictello users through a free account on the Pictello Sharing Server.
Available on the Apple appstore, Price: $18.99 - Universal app for iPhone and iPad
See feedback from users on the Pictello facebook page
and introduction video:
flashelement:pictello
Uses for Pictello stories include:Stories to teach social skills or to recall eventsPhoto albums to allow non-speaking people to share their news and interestsSharing important events and memories with family who live far away Talking booksTeaching narrative skills as part of a literacy or language skills curriculumSchedules, task instructions, etc.Sharing stories or writing group stories using iPad on a VGA monitor or interactive white board (VGA adapter required)Creating multilingual stories using text to speech or voice recordings

More information on AssistiveWare website

Cute learning tool on iPhone & iPad: 'Word Wizard', the talking spelling app, invites kids to play with words.

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

December 1st, 2011

A rewarding and fun application to slip into Santa's sack!
Word Wizard is the first application of its kind to really make smart use of speech synthesis. Word Wizard enables kids to compose words and listen to the audio result, and indicates if their spelling is correct.
flashelement:wordwizard
An educational & recreational application
Through a colorful, simple and intuitive graphic interface, kids drag letters to compose
words and play with the sounds, either as they like or according to their level of writing and reading. Word Wizard allows kids to listen to the pronunciation of letters, words or sentences they compose themselves, tapped by their own fingers, thanks to a movable alphabet.
Acapela, the voice that catches kids' attention
Acapela speech synthesis handles the talking part of the application by vocalizing any written
text, with a female or male voice. Kids control the game, entering the words they like,
listening to the audio result, checking if the spelling is correct. Seeing, hearing and touching: the multi-sensory approach engages kids completely. And a help button enables them to progress at any time.
This application has been developed by l'Escapadou, a design studio dedicated to the creation of fun, creative and educational applications for iPhone & iPad.
'L'Escapadou was created right after the launch of the iPad, because we believe we have in our hands an amazing tool to help kids learn and increase their autonomy and creativity, in a fun and rewarding way. Combining Acapela text to speech with the iPad allowed us to create an interactive and talkative interface that captivates the interest of young users. The success of the English and the French versions has proved us right and we are about to launch the German and the Spanish ones.' adds Pierre Abel, L'Escapadou's founder.
L'Escapadou is a family-run design studio where the parents develop the applications and the graphic environments, inspired by their 4 and 7 year old kids - the very first beta-testers!
'Praised by the New York Times as a 'Speak 'N Spell for the iPad Generation' and promoted by Apple, Word Wizard, more than any other educational and recreational application, has made great use of speech synthesis, to favor learning in a very effective and pleasant way. And the enthusiasm of young Word Wizard users has unequivocally proved that!' adds Lars-Erik Larsson, Acapela group CEO.
Talking movable alphabet or spelling quiz
The application offers 2 modes and a full set of parameters so that it can be adapted to a kid's age and level of learning
Highlights of Talking Movable Alphabet
- Spell checker draws attention to unrecognized words
- 2 American voices and 1 British voice
- Optional magnetic grid to ease letters' placement
- Reads all the words as a sentence
- Uppercase or lowercase letters Phonics or letter name when a letter is touched in the alphabet
- voice Transformer (speed, tone) for added fun, 2 backgrounds
Highlights of Spelling Quiz
- 189 word lists of 10 words: Dolch Words, 1000 most frequently used words, body parts, family members, etc.
- Create custom word lists by entering own words and sentences, and even share lists
- Hints are available if kids do not know how to spell a word
- A variety of colorful animations are displayed when a word is completed
- Once a quiz is completed, a report is displayed and fun, interactive animations are available as a reward
Video available on You Tube
Price 2.99 USD - Universal application that runs both on iPhone and iPad
Available on the Apple appstore

Audio publishing on the cloud: Easy vocalization of your newspapers with Acapela Kiosk website.

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

November 29th, 2011

Try out acapela-kiosk.com, the new online service that offers a smart collaborative text to audio production solution.
Designed by Acapela Group, Acapela Kiosk website allows publishers to easily vocalize newspapers and long texts via a web interface, providing audio information access to all, including print-impaired users.
Using Acapela speech synthesis, acapela-kiosk.com turns written content into a pleasant and accurate audio result. Vocalization of newspapers & magazines, accessible publishing, Daisy books, self-publishing and podcasting are application areas that can all benefit from Acapela Kiosk.
Orchestrate your Audio content
Written content is automatically converted into speech, for easy listening, in MP3 or Daisy formats, in a few clicks and in the language and voices of your choice. Just use the cloud computing service to upload or enter the text to be vocalized, define your settings, produce your sound file and download the result for direct use, making the audio version immediately available to your readers.
Designed to offer advanced services to publishers and companies that want to enrich their content with an audio version, acapela-kiosk.com is intuitive, collaborative and easy to use.
The service's powerful back office offers optimum follow up of pending text to audio jobs, efficient collaboration between workers and if required, support from Acapela Kiosk experts.
The web interface ensures hands on management of all parts of audio production in a single place: from online editing and lexicon handling to production. All comments, messages and files sent and shared between workers are saved.
'Our high quality speech synthesis ensures a perfect, pleasant, audio production of any written content. Acapela Kiosk is the application layer that was missing between the technology and the publishers' needs. We look forward to bringing more innovative tools and solutions to the audio publishing market in which we are very much involved' says Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group.
To hear more about Acapela Kiosk, look at the talking tutorials and register on Acapela Kiosk website to get your own trial account.
http://www.acapela-kiosk.com

Voice expertise by Acapela Group: Talking local, sounding authentic.

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

November 22nd, 2011

Acapela Group is proud to present 2 brand new voices speaking in Swedish dialects Skånska and Göteborgska.
Mia & Kal , the brand new Acapela voice personas, vocalize language and sounds that perfectly reflect the speech commonly used in two regions in Sweden. They capture subtle, cultural layers that permeate talking applications and services such as newspaper reading, aids for the visually impaired, speech disabled and dyslectic people, public speech announcements, smart phone apps, and much more.
Acapela's brand new spokespeople come in and enrich any company's portfolio with regional voices that convey local variations in speech and perfectly connect with the audience. The new voices embody the specificities of each dialect and sound authentic to the user.
'Acapela voice expertise is dedicated to bringing more sense, meaning and emotion to synthesized speech and to accurately reproducing more accents, differences and particular attributes to enhance the personality of synthesized voice. Getting the right accent, providing users with regional, local voices that they feel fully comfortable with are essential to the way Acapela Group looks at the use of voice in people's daily lives.' says Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group.
Mia & Kal have been created using Acapela Voice Factory, the Acapela Group voice-creation solution.
Acapela Voice Factory is often used by companies to create proprietary voices that become companies' spokespeople, help establish high value added services and strengthen the audio identity of organizations.
The new Göteborgska and Skånska voices enrich the Acapela standard voice portfolio and widen its linguistic coverage of the Nordic region. Skånska, a regrouping of the dialects spoken by people living in the south of Sweden, and Göteborgska, spoken by people in the southwest part of Sweden (Gothenburg and its surroundings) are part of the almost 100 dialects used in the country.

Accessibility to elections for ALL: Acapela voice synthesis helps visually impaired users to vote for Spanish national election on Nov.20th..

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100

November 18th, 2011

Antonio, the Acapela male Spanish voice, will be used during the upcoming elections to provide audio support.
Speech synthesis will allow blind and visually impaired voters to participate in the elections without requesting assistance, therefore respecting their right to privacy.
The Spanish Ministry of Internal Affairs will be running a pilot test and Antonio's natural and pleasant voice will contribute to erasing barriers providing audio access to written information.
An application using Acapela's Spanish voice will guide the voter with audio information and provide them all necessary information to select their candidate up to the confirmation and printing of the ballot paper, which is inserted in an envelope ready for the vote. Free from any assistance and fully confidentially.
The pilot will be held in Distrito 02 IES Juan de la Cierva, Calle de la Caoba, 1. 28005 Madrid.

Social networking -Tweet Speaker: Listen to Twitter with Acapela voices.

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0200

October 24th, 2011

Enjoy Twitter while on a walk, stuck in traffic, in the kitchen, or on the go. Tweet Speaker lets you listen to news, sports, humor, and the musings of interesting people on Twitter - a sort of live podcast of your Tweets, that uses Acapela's pleasant voices to read your tweets in real time.

Featuring a beautiful user interface, speech tailored for tweets, Tweet Marker support, adjustable reading speed, and Airplay, Tweet Speaker is a fun new way to experience Twitter.
Tweet Speaker is using the AcapelaTTS for iPhone and iPad solution. It was designed by App Cubby.
Check out www.acapela-for-iphone.com and get all the information you need to start developing smart talkative apps. Get the trial version of the SDKs, the latest news, follow what's happening on twitter and on the blog, access our FAQ, make direct contact with Acapela's Product Manager and enter the vocal dimension.
Acapela voices already voice empower more than 100 apps, with over 1 million downloads by iPhone & iPad users. Strengthened by the positive feedback and a well established dialog installed with developers, Acapela Group is committed more than ever to the mobility community providing developers specific solutions, perfectly answering their needs with straight forward tools, and efficiently supporting them.
Check out the Acapela-for-iphone gallery and experience what speech synthesis has already brought to smart talking apps.