Abstract
In this paper, we propose a “Spatial speaker”, an enhancement of a Java FreeTTS speech synthesizer with the additional function of spatial positioning of both the speaker and the listener. Our module enables the reading of an arbitrary text from a file or webpage to the user from a fixed or changing position in space through normal stereo headphones. Our solution combines the following modules: FreeTTS speech synthesizer, a custom made speech processing unit, MIT Media Lab HRTF library, JOAL positioning library and Creative X-Fi sound card. The paper gives an overview of the design of the “Spatial Speaker” and proposes three different practical applications of such a system for visually impaired and blind computer users. Some preliminary results of user studies confirmed the system’s usability and showed its great potential also in other types of applications and auditory interfaces. The entire system is developed as a single Java class which can be imported and used in any Java application.
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Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the Slovenian Research Agency within the research project: “Assisting visually impaired people in using the computer with the aid of spatial sound”.
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Sodnik, J., Tomažič, S. (2010). Spatial Speaker Spatial Positioning of Synthesized Speech in Java. In: Ao, SI., Rieger, B., Amouzegar, M. (eds) Machine Learning and Systems Engineering. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 68. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9419-3_28
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9419-3_28
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