Fonix DECtalk Drives New Type-to-Talk Product from ZYGO

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - Fonix Corporation (OTC BB: FONX), a provider of natural-user interface technology, announced its leading DECtalk text-to-speech technology has been integrated into the latest type-to-talk product from ZYGO a leader in providing such augmentative communication systems to physically disabled people. ZYGO's PolyanaII with Persona is a modified NEC MobilePro 790 device to which the company has added an amplifier base pack, a handle/stabilizing bar, and holes for mounting to wheelchairs and other assistive devices. ZYGO's Persona is a talk-to-type program with the addition of both word-completion and word-prediction capabilities. Through the use of Fonix's DECtalk, ZYGO's newest product, called PolyanaII with Persona, offers literate people who are not able to speak the ability to do so via a machine that says what they type. "We are thrilled to see DECtalk—the smallest fully-featured, formant-based synthesizer offered in the world—put into such a perfect use through ZYGO's new product," said Dr. Lynn Shepherd, VP/GM Embedded Systems of Fonix. "This is yet another example of Fonix speech technologies and solutions providing a natural human speech interface to help people communicate through a broad range of applications used with PDAs, smartphones, handheld and notebook PCs, and other wireless-enabled mobile products." "We decided from the outset that DECtalk would be our synthesizer of choice because it is the clear leader in embedded speech synthesis and provides capabilities no one else offers," said Lawrence Weiss, president of ZYGO. "In designing PolyanaII with Persona, we set out to provide a simple-to-use and simple-to-understand communication aid for literate users. Fonix and DECtalk has helped us meet that goal and thereby better meet the communication needs of non-speaking literate individuals such as Lou Gehrig's disease, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, and more."