Humelo to Expand Voice Dubbing and TTS Capabilities

Humelo, a Korean startup that specializes in artificial intelligence-based voice synthesis solutions, will be developing new services, such as dubbing in multiple languages, and expanding its text-to-speech voices following an infusion of $2.6 million in new funding rom KT Investment and Kakao Investment.

Humelo's AI TTS (text-to-speech) solution, Prosody, can create AI voice-read sentences from a short sample audio recording. Prosody's voices have variations in intonation (via adjustment of tone, speed, etc.) and convey emotions that are appropriate for the situation at hand. To create its voices, Humelo needs a sample that can be as short as only two minutes.

Humelo's technology allows the user to convert a Korean language recording into other languages, such as English, Chinese and Japanese. Also, the user can convert English, Chinese and Japanese languages into other languages as well. Users can also isolate one voice from an audiovisual file and change it into a completely different voice.

"The market for AI-based voice synthesis technology, which is making forays into the fields of entertainment, personal broadcasts, audio books, and IoT devices, is essentially limitless," Humelo CEO Lee Ja-ryong said in a statement. "Going forward, we will be concentrating on developing new technologies and services that will allow Humelo to secure a dominant position, technologically, in all of these areas and more."

KT Investment manage Choi Woo-seok said, "Based on the rapid expansion of the content and metaverse markets, there is a lot of demand at the moment for technology that imitates human sounds and actions. Humelo, which has already developed voice synthesis technologies that are competitive in the global market, has the potential to grow significantly in the coming years."