(15 Jul 2016) JESSIE LEVINE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A-L-S 16 MONTHS AGO... SINCE THEN SHE HAS BEEN LOSING THE ABILITY TO SPEAK.
THIS VOICEMAIL MESSAGE IS A BITTERSWEET REMINDER.
UPSOUND: Voicemail message "I'll call you back as soon as I can"
SOUNDBITE (English) Jessie Levine, ALS Survivor: "I sound young, and fast."
LEVINE MAY BE ABLE TO RECLAIM SOMETHING CLOSE TO HER OLD VOICE THANKS TO A MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY CALLED VOCAL I-D.
IT CREATES CUSTOM SYNTHESIZED VOICES USING RECORDINGS FROM PEOPLE BEFORE THEY LOSE THE ABILITY TO SPEAK.
SOUNDBITE (English) Rupal Patel, CEO of Vocal ID:
"We can create a voice for someone who has banked their voice for themselves. So they've recorded all of the sentences we need and from that, while they are still able to speak. For them we can create what we call a vocal legacy voice."
THE VOICE CAN BE LOADED ONTO ANY TEXT-TO-SPEECH DEVICE.
THE COMPANY CAN ALSO TAKE A FEW SNIPPETS OF SOUND FROM SOMEONE WHO CAN'T TALK AND BLEND IT WITH A VOICE WITH SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS.
IT'S NOT AN EXACT MATCH, BUT FAR BETTER THAN THE OFF-THE-SHELF GENERIC VOICES COMMONLY USED FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY.
ABOUT 14-THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE DONATED VOICE RECORDINGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
SOUNDBITE (English) Rupal Patel, CEO of Vocal ID:
"We try to find the closest person in age, voice type, demographics like where they live, accents and so on and so forth. And then we actually blend the recordings of the match donor and the person who is non-speaking and create a new set of sound files. "
ONE OF THE FIRST CUSTOM VOICE RECIPIENTS WAS 17-YEAR-OLD DELANEY SUPPLE.
SHE WAS BORN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY.
DELANEY HAD BEEN USING A GENERIC COMPUTERIZED VOICE BUT SHE DIDN'T LIKE IT VERY MUCH.
SOUNDBITE (English) Erica Supple, Delaney's Mother:
"With each device, she has a different computerized voice on the device. We've tried to match those voices in the past so at least her voice was consistent from device to device but this is the first time that she's had a voice that is completely her own."
CUSTOM VOICES ARE HELPING PEOPLE LIKE JESSIE AND DELANEY COMMUNICATE IN THEIR OWN UNIQUE WAY.
WALTER RATLIFF, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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