Daisys Creates Customizable TTS Voices

Dutch voice technology startup Daisys has released a breakthrough in the development of human-sounding voices using artificial intelligence. The innovation, which narrates written texts in a natural way, generates realistically sounding voices whereby the speech properties, like gender, speed and pitch, can be adjusted in real time.

"This is a huge breakthrough. Up until now, naturally sounding voices were always deepfake, based on audio data of professional speakers. But deepfakes in text-to-speech for many reasons aren't usable. One of those reasons is that not everyone wishes to lend out their voice without having control about what is being said with it. With this technology, as the first company in the world, we are able to create new voices that sound like real people," Barnier Geerling, CEO of Daisys, said in a statement. "In addition, this technology makes it easier and faster to apply speech-steered technology. The market potential is enormous: Think of audio-visual media using voice-overs, or talking cars, robots, or appliances. For manufacturers, this means the possibility to integrate realistic speech in their products becomes much easier and more efficient."

The new voice technology is suitable for online and offline surroundings, like traditional media, smart devices, games, robots, speech assistants, and public announcement systems.

"Credible voice technology is becoming ever more important. Nowadays, everything has a voice: your phone, your car, even your coffee machine. Imagine being able to adjust that voice to your preference. That future is now within reach," Geerling said.