Singapore Sound Blaster sound board specialist Creative Technology Ltd has licensed Digital Equipment Corp’s DECtalk text-to-speech technology for incorporation into its 16-bit Sound Blaster boards with advanced signal processing. DECtalk text-to-speech technology enables true speech sounds without the need to store larger wave files. Frequently used to provide an improved method of communication for people who are visually or vocally impaired, text-to-speech technology is now also being developed as a supplement to word processing, speech recognition and scheduling software programs and as a tool for proofreading documents. Creative and Digital foresee the use of text-to-speech for future applications such as talking help files and audio versions of various publications. Creative plans to unveil the new technology at Comdex/Fall in the Multimedia Pavilion of the Las Vegas Convention Center. To provide the development community with a medium for integrating this versatile technology into its programs, Creative says it will also offer a text-to-speech Application Program Interface to its registered developers. The Application Program Interface will be available in the middle of November and a finished product will begin shipping in time for Christmas.
