Hear2Read @ App for visually impaired
App lets
visually impaired in India hear books in their native language
For the
millions upon millions of visually impaired people in India, it can be
difficult getting hold of the audiobook they want in the language they need it
in. A project from Carnegie Mellon University and partners aims to fix that
with a free, easily extensible Android app that can be quickly trained to read
texts aloud in local languages.
The app,
Hear2Read, had its first release today, supporting Tamil, with Hindi, Bengali,
Punjabi, and other languages and dialects coming over the course of the year. A
few hours of talking from a native speaker is the raw data, which is then fed
into a machine learning system.
“Each language
is different and historically TTS systems have been done one at a time. We
looked at commonalities of Indian languages and developed tools to apply the
same technology to multiple languages,” said Suresh Bazaj, an IIT Alumni and
founder of the project, in a CMU blog post.
The resulting language database is small enough that it can be stored on the phone, meaning no internet connection is needed to translate texts. It’ll run on low-end phones, as well, an important factor in a country where budget devices and spotty connectivity are the rule. (You’ll need Android 4.1 or higher, though.)
The Hear2Read software also integrates with Android’s built-in accessibility functions, letting browsers, email apps, and others integrate text to speech.
The resulting language database is small enough that it can be stored on the phone, meaning no internet connection is needed to translate texts. It’ll run on low-end phones, as well, an important factor in a country where budget devices and spotty connectivity are the rule. (You’ll need Android 4.1 or higher, though.)
The Hear2Read software also integrates with Android’s built-in accessibility functions, letting browsers, email apps, and others integrate text to speech.
More info on
Hear2Read, the app, and the partners that helped make it possible can be found
at the company’s website.
Source | IIT Alumni Newsletter
December 2016
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Library
Khaitan & Co
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