What is dectalk tts?

DECtalk TTS (Text-to-Speech) is a speech synthesis technology developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in the early 1980s. It is one of the first commercially successful speech synthesizers in the world that allowed computers to read out text in a natural-sounding voice. The DECtalk TTS software was mainly used for assistive technology purposes, such as providing a voice for blind and visually impaired individuals.

The DECtalk TTS system consists of three major components - a speech synthesis engine, a voice synthesizer, and a control program. The speech synthesis engine processes text and converts it into a phonetic representation using a set of pronunciation rules. The voice synthesizer then converts this phonetic representation into speech using a range of pre-recorded digitized sound fragments (known as diphones). The control program allows users to customize the voice characteristics, such as pitch, speed, and volume.

DECtalk TTS has been used in a variety of applications, including ATMs, voice dialing systems, telephone services, and navigation systems. It was also famously used as the voice of Stephen Hawking's computer-generated speech system. Although its popularity has declined in recent years with the advent of more advanced TTS technologies, DECtalk TTS remains an important milestone in the development of speech synthesis.