Acapela TTS Powers iWordQ Talking App for Struggling Writers
Acapela Group has provided its text-to-speech technology to iWordQ, a talking iOS app for struggling writers and readers.
Acapela's TTS voices read out words, phrases, and sentences to enhance independent writing and editing by helping the user detect spelling and grammatical errors that might otherwise go unnoticed.
A reading mode within iWordQ employs Acapela voices to enhance comprehension and readability of text through a patented text segmentation method (U.S. patent 8,731,905). Invented by Quilsoft, the system displays text with speech output that uses a method of text segmentation in which segments of text are presented one after another for reading text sequentially. With the use of a text-to-speech output system, each segment is spoken with a pause before the next segment is presented. In a non-linear/selective reading scenario, a user can select a text segment for which the span of the segment can be automatically generated or manually selected by the user.
"This improves the reader's comprehension of the phrase before moving onto the next phrase. It also adds a feeling of anticipation for the next phrase to maintain the reader’s attention, which is essential for proofreading and reading learning materials," said Fraser Shein, president and CEO of Quillsoft, in a statement.
In Writing mode, a text editor is used for writing with the support of word prediction, abbreviation-expansion, and speech feedback features. Spell-check and dictionary access is included.
In Reading mode, text is shown to improve readability. This is used for proofreading, reading to learn, silent reading, reading aloud, and casual reading/listening. A text chunking method can be selected to enhance comprehension and readability of text to allow the user to focus on one text chunk at a time.
"Text-to-speech is a natural answer to support struggling students with audio feedback. It helps them to gain in confidence and in autonomy with immediate feedback of the written content. We are proud to be used in such learning programs and to contribute to the whole progression process," said Lars-Erik Larsson, CEO of Acapela Group, in a statement.