Accenture and CereProc Introduce and Open Source the World’s First Comprehensive Non-Binary Voice Solution
December 16 2020 - 6:59AM
Business Wire
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) collaborated with CereProc, a
text-to-speech technology provider, to create Sam, the world’s
first comprehensive non-binary voice solution for the fast-growing
global digital assistant market. To encourage adoption, the
companies have released all the materials used to generate the
voice to the Open Source community.
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This year, consumers interacted with 4.2 billion digital voice
assistants around the world, and that number is expected to double
to 8.4 billion devices by 2024, according to a report by Juniper
Research. The vast majority of today’s device voices are female, or
female by default, and this limited diversity is problematic. A
2019 UNESCO report found that designing female-only voice
assistants reinforces gender bias and encourages negative behavior,
both with digital assistants and with real people. Additionally,
voices available today are binary and do not reflect the
transgender or gender non-conforming community, which represents
12% of millennials.
To help address these issues, researchers at Accenture Labs
worked closely with members of the non-binary community on the
development of Sam’s voice. Accenture surveyed non-binary
individuals and used their feedback and audio data to influence not
only pitch, but speech patterns, intonation, and word choice.
CereProc then created the text-to-speech model using its artificial
intelligence (AI) technology. The result is a voice that combines
aspects of male and female voices to better resonate with the
community it was designed to represent.
“While gender-neutral voice samples have been released
previously, Sam is the first non-binary AI-based digital voice
solution that can be embedded into any software solution to speak
text in a human-sounding voice,” said Marc Carrel-Billiard, senior
managing director and Technology Innovation lead at Accenture.
“This work is a great example of how technology and human
creativity can come together and spark a moment of societal change
that can benefit many people. We believe it’s essential that voice
assistants more accurately represent the diversity of our global
population.”
Accenture has open-sourced all components necessary to develop a
non-binary voice assistant—including a version of the
text-to-speech voice running on an open-source engine, along with
voice-training data to encourage broader adoption. Accenture is
also working with researchers at Heriot-Watt University who will
use the voice as part of a collaborative research effort with
several other universities focused on designing conversational
assistants to reduce gender bias.
Paul Welham, chief executive officer of CereProc, added, “By
creating a non-binary voice with Accenture, CereProc is challenging
strongly held mainstream views in IT that a synthetic voice has to
be clearly male or female. One of CereProc’s key aims since
inception has been to empower application designers to disrupt the
status quo in speech; with this non-binary voice we wish to raise
awareness of this important issue in the next generation of
AI-based digital voice systems that are developed.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading
capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries,
we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and
Operations services—all powered by the world’s largest network of
Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 506,000
people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity
every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace
the power of change to create value and shared success for our
clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
About CereProc
CereProc, founded in 2005, creates text-to-speech solutions for
any type of application. Its core product, CereVoice, is a fast,
cost-effective voice creation engine and is available on any
platform, from mobile and embedded devices to desktops and servers.
CereProc voices have character, making them appropriate for a far
wider range of applications than traditional text-to-speech
systems, including the innovative Hanson Robotics singing synthesis
project. Developed by a team of speech synthesis experts, and
widely regarded as the most advanced in the world, CereProc voices
are changing the lives of people around the world. The company
continues to innovative, supporting individuals and businesses with
their Text-to-Speech needs. Visit us at: www.cereproc.com
Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.
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Hannah Unkefer Accenture 206-839-2172
hannah.m.unkefer@accenture.com
Sophie Riewoldt CereProc Ltd 0044 131 516 8532
sales@cereproc.com
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