APE Segmentation for Variable Speed Speech Synthesis

We propose to apply proprietary technology to meet the needs of variable speed speech synthesis. Our approach involves a new method of sound segmentation that provides not only greater control of speech timing, but extensive control and variability of all manner of prosodic features, including intonation and accent, without undue degradation to sound quality and intelligibility. Current systems fail to provide these adequately, because of the methods by which units are selected, stored, and recalled for concatenation; the means by which these units are manipulated; and the absence of requisite markup standards for control of prosody in synthesis. The final deliverable of this project will be a stand-alone software package capable of providing the end-user variable control of speech rate in synthesis, as well as integration of this functionality as a module in a new generation of off-the-shelf speech synthesis engines.