In this paper the use of speech synthesis in applications is investigated. It is of high importance to know if speech synthesis needs to be improved to achieve acceptable quality for applications like email reading. Also, it is important to know how user interfaces influence the use of speech synthesis in application. To gain insight into the use of speech synthesis in an application, two available email reading systems are tested. The results of an expert and user test are presented in this paper. The mean judgment of speech synthesis in these email reading applications is insufficient. The intelligibility is mostly scored as not quite sufficient. Especially, email headers and very short messages are difficult to understand. Also, it appears that the user interface influences the perception of quality of the speech synthesis.
Cite as: Sanderman, A., Bosgoed, E., Graaff, H.d., Splunder, P.v. (1999) Use of speech synthesis in an application. Proc. 6th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology (Eurospeech 1999), 955-958, doi: 10.21437/Eurospeech.1999-233
@inproceedings{sanderman99_eurospeech,
author={Angelien Sanderman and Ellen Bosgoed and Hans de Graaff and Peter van Splunder},
title={{Use of speech synthesis in an application}},
year=1999,
booktitle={Proc. 6th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology (Eurospeech 1999)},
pages={955--958},
doi={10.21437/Eurospeech.1999-233}
}