Speech Synthesis Markup Language SSML

Introduced in September 2004 XML based Assists the generation of synthetic speech Specifies the way speech is outputted Often embedded in VoiceXML Can also be used alone SSML

SYNTHESIS PROCESSOR (Text-to-Speech System) SSML Document Synthesis Processor Spoken Output 6 Major Processing Steps

PROCESSING STEPS Extracts Document Tree and Content Structure Tags Attributes 1) XML Parse SSML document Synthesis Processor Document Tree Content

PROCESSING STEPS Paragraphs - element Sentences - element Used to indicate structure of document 2) Structure Analysis Document Tree Structure Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Influences how the document will be read Synthesis processor can infer structure Uses punctuation etc. 2) Structure Analysis Document Tree Structure Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Converting written form into spoken form $200 is spoken as two hundred dollars Ambiguous constructs such as 1/2 3) Text Normalization Document Tree Text in Spoken Form Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Acronyms and abbreviations and elements Errors likely without mark up 3) Text Normalization Document Tree Text in Spoken Form Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Derives pronunciation for each word Some words have different pronunciations “Read” can be pronounced “red” or “reed” 4) Text-to-Phoneme Conversion Document Tree Pronunciation Information Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Foreign names and places element Errors likely without mark up 4) Text-to-Phoneme Conversion Document Tree Pronunciation Information Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Pitch, timing, pausing Speaking rate, emphasis on words Other features that affect speech 5) Prosody Analysis Document Tree Prosody Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Elements,, Not needed to generate suitable prosody Can use document structure, sentence syntax etc. 5) Prosody Analysis Document Tree Prosody Synthesis Processor Content

PROCESSING STEPS Information used to produce audio waveform and elements 6) Waveform Production Information from previous steps Waveforms Synthesis Processor

FUTURE OF SSML Internationalizing

FUTURE OF SSML Decomposition of words into syllables Tone assignment Pitch assignment Duration assignment Dialects and Styles need to be supported

USES OF SSML Access Web Services using Telephone Voice Browser SSML Synthetic Speech

USES OF SSML Airline Reservations Voic Cinema Schedules Bank Information Weather Forecasts

SSML EXAMPLES <speak version="1.0" xmlns=" xmlns:xsi=" xsi:schemaLocation=" xml:lang="en-US"> You have 4 new messages. The first is from Stephanie Williams and arrived at 3:45pm. The subject is ski trip

SSML EXAMPLES Today we preview the latest music from Example. Hear what the Software Reviews said about Example's newest hit. He sings about issues that touch us all. Here's a sample. Would you like to buy it?

SSML EXAMPLES This sentence is spoken fast This sentence is spoken low pitch This sentence is spoken with stress This sentence will be spoken out in ten seconds