I came across this the other day, a really interesting article about the advances in speech technology for GPS navigation instructions and the impact on driver behaviour [read it here]. Basically, the author summarises the state of play and development for text-to-speech technologies and the use of computer generated voices in satnav. He concludes by illustrating how crude the systems still are in terms of getting emotion into the computer generated GPS voices. Contrast this with pre-recorded GPS voices, like our very own VoiceSkins, which manage to convey a huge range of emotions in each character’s satnav voice: Darth is threatening, seductive, menacing; Homer is goofy, defensive, self-important; Snoop is laconic, critical; Yoda is quizzical, authoritative, encouraging; C-3PO is concerned, obsequious.

Why would you want to listen to a voice that fails to keep your interest and that can’t reproduce anything like the emotional range of a real human voice? I’ve always wondered why you need a text-to-speech voice to tell you to ‘turn left into Acacia Avenue’, as:

a) you rarely have the ability to catch a street sign whilst driving, in which case the additional location specific addition is unnecessary;

b)if you need your GPS to guide you then you probably don’t know / don’t care about the name of the road you are about to turn left into – all you need is a simple instruction like, ‘take the next left’.

Text-to-speech will have to be able to reproduce a far richer emotional range than currently as well as provide the option of real celebrity GPS voices like Homer, Darth Vader, Snoop Dogg, Yoda and others before it will be a real contender IMHO!

Chris.

If you haven’t see the TomTom Darth Vader gps voice viral video, you’re in for a treat. It really is genuinely entertaining. You can see it here on YouTube. It has been an immense success, with total viewings just short of the 1,000,000 mark. And that’s only after 7 days!! TomTom have done a really good job with this and clearly know how to respect a premium satnav voice like Darth Vader and other real celebrity GPS voices too, such as Snoop Dogg and Homer. [Shameless plug - all are available here!] All these voices are official, authentic and really do sound excellent. Beware of imitations!

By the way, the official Darth Vader gps voice comes with John Williams’ music, TIE fighter fly by noises and light sabers embedded into the navigation commentary. This is GPS voices as you’ve never heard them before! Enjoy.

Colin.

The Homer voice and Snoop voice are soon to be joined by a very exciting new GPS voice, due for launch sometime very soon. We are very pleased with this satnav voice as it really pushes the boundaries of what we thought was possible for a celebrity gps voice! If you are not on the mailing list yet, then sign up at VoiceSkins.com and be the first to know when our next GPS voice is launched. It is going to be a very exciting summer if you have a TomTom GPS and want the best celebrity voices to accompany you on your holidays.