ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rupal Patel - Speech scientist
People relying on synthetic speech use the voice they’re given, not their own. Rupal Patel created the vocaliD project to change that.

Why you should listen

Northeastern University computer science professor Rupal Patel looks for ways to give voice to the voiceless. As founder and director of the Communication Analysis and Design Laboratory (CadLab), she developed a technology that combines real human voices with the characteristics of individual speech patterns. The result is VocaliD, an innovation that gives people who can't speak the ability to communicate in a voice all their own.

"There's nothing better than seeing the person who's actually going to use it, seeing their reaction, seeing their smile," says Patel.

More profile about the speaker
Rupal Patel | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2013

Rupal Patel: Synthetic voices, as unique as fingerprints

Rupal Patel: Zerat e sintetizuar, unike si shenjat e gishterinjve

Filmed:
944,754 views

Shumica e personave me veshtiresi te medha ne te folur perdorin pajisje te kompjuterizuara per te folur. Megjithate ata zgjedhin mes shume pak zerave. Ja pse Stephen Hawking ka theks amerikan, dhe pse shume njerez zgjedhin te njejtin ze, i cili nuk ju pershtatet aspak. Rupal Patel, shkencetare e zerit, donte te bente dicka, dhe ne kete fjalim te mrekullueshem ajo ndan punen qe ka bere per t'u dhene zera unike personave qe nuk mund te flasin.
- Speech scientist
People relying on synthetic speech use the voice they’re given, not their own. Rupal Patel created the vocaliD project to change that. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I'd like to talk today
0
719
1490
Sot dua t'ju flas
00:14
about a powerful and fundamental aspect
1
2209
2927
per nje aspekt shume te rendesishem
00:17
of who we are: our voice.
2
5136
3598
te identitetit tone: zerin.
00:20
Each one of us has a unique voiceprint
3
8734
2746
Cdonjeri prej nesh ka nje ze unik
00:23
that reflects our age, our size,
4
11480
2289
qe pasqyron moshen tone, dimensionet tona,
00:25
even our lifestyle and personality.
5
13769
3237
madje edhe stilin e jetes apo personalitetin.
00:29
In the words of the poet Longfellow,
6
17006
2142
Madje sipas poetit Longfellow,
00:31
"the human voice is the organ of the soul."
7
19148
3870
"zeri i njeriut eshte organ i shpirtit te tij".
00:35
As a speech scientist, I'm fascinated
8
23018
2747
Si shkencetare e zerit, mu me mahnit
00:37
by how the voice is produced,
9
25765
1829
menyra se si prodhohet zeri,
00:39
and I have an idea for how it can be engineered.
10
27594
3658
madje kam nje ide se si mund realizoj ate.
00:43
That's what I'd like to share with you.
11
31252
2210
Kjo eshte ajo qe dua te ndaj me ju.
00:45
I'm going to start by playing you a sample
12
33462
1814
Do filloj duke ju dhene te degjoni
00:47
of a voice that you may recognize.
13
35276
1871
nje ze qe ndoshta ju do t'a njihni.
00:49
(Recording) Stephen Hawking: "I would have thought
14
37147
1304
(regjistrim) Stephen Hawking: "Mendoja se
00:50
it was fairly obvious what I meant."
15
38451
2749
ajo qe doja te thoja ishte mjaft e qarte."
00:53
Rupal Patel: That was the voice
16
41200
1280
Rupal Patel: Ky ishte zeri i
00:54
of Professor Stephen Hawking.
17
42480
2086
profesor Stephen Hawking.
00:56
What you may not know is that same voice
18
44566
3849
Ajo qe ndoshta nuk dini eshte se po i njejti ze
01:00
may also be used by this little girl
19
48415
2478
mund t'i jepet kesaj vajze te vogel
01:02
who is unable to speak
20
50893
1697
e cila e ka te pamundur te flase
01:04
because of a neurological condition.
21
52590
2597
per shkak te nje problemi neurologjik.
01:07
In fact, all of these individuals
22
55187
2068
Ne te vertete, secili prej ketyre individeve
01:09
may be using the same voice,
23
57255
2012
mund te perdore te njejtin ze,
01:11
and that's because there's
only a few options available.
24
59267
3557
dhe kjo ndodh sepse alternativat jane te pakta.
01:14
In the U.S. alone, there are 2.5 million Americans
25
62824
4317
Vetem ne SHBA ka 2.5 milione amerikane
01:19
who are unable to speak,
26
67141
1610
qe nuk mund te flasin,
01:20
and many of whom use computerized devices
27
68751
2622
shumica prej te cileve perdorin pajisje
te kompjuterizuara
01:23
to communicate.
28
71373
1522
per te komunikuar.
01:24
Now that's millions of people worldwide
29
72895
3479
Ne bote ka miliona njerez
01:28
who are using generic voices,
30
76374
1652
qe perdorin zerat e zakonshem,
01:30
including Professor Hawking,
31
78026
1446
duke perfshire ketu profesor Hawking,
01:31
who uses an American-accented voice.
32
79472
4833
i cili perdor nje ze me theks amerikan.
01:36
This lack of individuation of the synthetic voice
33
84305
3328
Mungesa e personalizimit te zerave sintetike
01:39
really hit home
34
87633
1416
me zgjoi interes
01:41
when I was at an assistive technology conference
35
89049
2472
kur mora pjese ne nje konference
mbi teknologjite ndihmuese
01:43
a few years ago,
36
91521
1850
disa vite me pare,
01:45
and I recall walking into an exhibit hall
37
93371
3604
dhe mbaj mend se duke ecur ne holl
01:48
and seeing a little girl and a grown man
38
96975
3044
pashe nje vajze te vogel dhe nje burre
01:52
having a conversation using their devices,
39
100019
2916
te cilet po bisedonin duke perdorur pajisjet e tyre,
01:54
different devices, but the same voice.
40
102935
4284
dy pajisje te ndryshme qe leshonin te njejtin ze.
01:59
And I looked around and I saw this happening
41
107219
1909
Pashe perreth dhe kuptova se kjo po ndodhte
02:01
all around me, literally hundreds of individuals
42
109128
4190
kudo, qindra individe
02:05
using a handful of voices,
43
113318
2738
qe perdornin nje numer te vogel zerash,
02:08
voices that didn't fit their bodies
44
116056
3091
zera qe nuk i pershtateshin trupave
02:11
or their personalities.
45
119147
2082
apo personaliteteve te tyre.
02:13
We wouldn't dream of fitting a little girl
46
121229
2727
Ne nuk do te donim ti jepnim nje vajze te vogel
02:15
with the prosthetic limb of a grown man.
47
123956
3396
krahun proteze te nje burri te rritur.
02:19
So why then the same prosthetic voice?
48
127352
3304
Atehere pse duhet te kene ata te njejtin ze sintetik?
02:22
It really struck me,
49
130656
1291
Kjo gje me goditi fort,
02:23
and I wanted to do something about this.
50
131947
3151
dhe doja te beja dicka ne lidhje me kete.
02:27
I'm going to play you now a sample
51
135098
1953
Tani do t'ju tregoj nje rregjistrim
02:29
of someone who has, two people actually,
52
137051
3288
te nje personi, ne fakt jane dy persona,
02:32
who have severe speech disorders.
53
140339
1768
me crregullime te renda ne te folur.
02:34
I want you to take a listen to how they sound.
54
142107
3230
Dua qe te degjoni tingullin e zerit te tyre.
02:37
They're saying the same utterance.
55
145337
2357
Ata thone te njejten gje.
02:39
(First voice)
56
147694
2432
(zeri i pare)
02:42
(Second voice)
57
150126
3617
(zeri i dyte)
02:45
You probably didn't understand what they said,
58
153743
2412
Ndoshta nuk arritet te kuptonit se c'thone,
02:48
but I hope that you heard
59
156155
1854
por shpresoj te keni dalluar
02:50
their unique vocal identities.
60
158009
4283
identitetin unik te zerit te tyre.
02:54
So what I wanted to do next is,
61
162292
2813
Keshtu, ajo qe vendosa te beja
02:57
I wanted to find out how we could harness
62
165105
2384
ishte te kuptoja se si mund t'i perdorja
02:59
these residual vocal abilities
63
167489
1821
keto mbetje te zerit
03:01
and build a technology
64
169310
2016
per te krijuar nje teknologji
03:03
that could be customized for them,
65
171326
2143
qe mund te personalizohej per ta,
03:05
voices that could be customized for them.
66
173469
2429
zera qe mund te personalizoheshin per ta.
03:07
So I reached out to my collaborator, Tim Bunnell.
67
175898
2685
Ja pse iu drejtova bashkepunetorit tim, Tim Bunnell.
03:10
Dr. Bunnell is an expert in speech synthesis,
68
178583
3063
Dr. Bunnell eshte ekspert ne sintetizimin e zerit,
03:13
and what he'd been doing is building
69
181646
2033
dhe ai ka punuar per te krijuar
03:15
personalized voices for people
70
183679
1881
zera te personalizuar
03:17
by putting together
71
185560
2097
duke punuar mbi
03:19
pre-recorded samples of their voice
72
187657
2150
rregjistrime te meparshme te zerit te tyre
03:21
and reconstructing a voice for them.
73
189807
2879
dhe duke ndertuar per ta nje ze te ri.
03:24
These are people who had lost their voice
74
192686
1712
Keta jane njerez qe e kane humbur zerin
03:26
later in life.
75
194398
1911
me vone ne jeten e tyre.
03:28
We didn't have the luxury
76
196309
1394
Por ne nuk e kishim luksin
03:29
of pre-recorded samples of speech
77
197703
1774
e rregjistrimeve ekzistuese
03:31
for those born with speech disorder.
78
199477
2292
per ata qe kishin lindur me probleme ne te follur.
03:33
But I thought, there had to be a way
79
201769
2537
Por une mendova se duhet te gjendej nje menyre
03:36
to reverse engineer a voice
80
204306
1944
per te rindertuar nje ze
03:38
from whatever little is left over.
81
206250
2291
nga ato pak tinguj qe mbeteshin prej tij.
03:40
So we decided to do exactly that.
82
208541
2714
Keshtu, ne vendosem te benim pikerisht kete.
03:43
We set out with a little bit of funding
from the National Science Foundation,
83
211255
3403
Me shume pak fonde nga
Fondacioni Kombetar i Shkences,
03:46
to create custom-crafted voices that captured
84
214658
3565
ne filluam te krijonim zera te vecante qe percillnin
03:50
their unique vocal identities.
85
218223
1536
identitetin vokal unik te tyre.
03:51
We call this project VocaliD, or vocal I.D.,
86
219759
3203
E kemi quajtur kete projekt VocaliD, ose vocal ID,
03:54
for vocal identity.
87
222962
2033
qe do te thote identitet vokal.
03:56
Now before I get into the details of how
88
224995
2674
Para se te hyj ne detajet mbi
03:59
the voice is made and let you listen to it,
89
227669
2048
menyren se si eshte i ndertuar zeri
dhe para se tjua tregoj ate,
04:01
I need to give you a real quick
speech science lesson. Okay?
90
229717
3350
Me duhet t'ju jap nje mesim
shume te shkurter shkencor mbi zerin. Mire?
04:05
So first, we know that the voice is changing
91
233067
3159
Se pari, ne e dime se zeri ndryshon
04:08
dramatically over the course of development.
92
236226
2854
jashtezakonisht shume gjate rritjes.
04:11
Children sound different from teens
93
239080
2090
Femijet kane ze tjeter nga adoleshentet,
04:13
who sound different from adults.
94
241170
1463
te cilet tingellojne ndryshe nga te rriturit.
04:14
We've all experienced this.
95
242633
2642
Kete e kemi vene re qe te gjithe.
04:17
Fact number two is that speech
96
245275
3363
E dhena numer dy eshte se e folura
04:20
is a combination of the source,
97
248638
2553
vjen si kombinim i burimit,
04:23
which is the vibrations generated by your voice box,
98
251191
3479
pra vibrimeve qe gjenerohen nga kutia juaj e zerit,
04:26
which are then pushed through
99
254670
1939
te cilat me pas shtyhen drejt
04:28
the rest of the vocal tract.
100
256609
2437
pjeses se mbetur te traktit zanor.
04:31
These are the chambers of your head and neck
101
259046
2484
Ato qe dridhen jane dhomat e kokes
04:33
that vibrate,
102
261530
1239
dhe qafes tuaj,
04:34
and they actually filter that source sound
103
262769
2110
dhe ato e filtrojne ate tingull fillestar
04:36
to produce consonants and vowels.
104
264879
2537
per te krijuar bashtingellore dhe zanore.
04:39
So the combination of source and filter
105
267416
3860
Pra eshte fale kombinimit te burimit dhe filtrave
04:43
is how we produce speech.
106
271276
2630
qe prodhohet zeri.
04:45
And that happens in one individual.
107
273906
3026
Kjo ndodh brenda nje individi te vetem.
04:48
Now I told you earlier that I'd spent
108
276932
2626
Ju thashe me pare se une kam kaluar
04:51
a good part of my career
109
279558
2025
pjesen me te madhe te karrieres
04:53
understanding and studying
110
281583
2453
duke kuptuar dhe studiuar
04:56
the source characteristics of people
111
284036
1958
karakteristikat e burimit tek njerez
04:57
with severe speech disorder,
112
285994
2301
me crregullime te medha ne te folur,
05:00
and what I've found
113
288295
1465
dhe ajo qe zbulova ishte se,
05:01
is that even though their filters were impaired,
114
289760
3366
edhe pse filtrat e tyre ishin difektoze,
05:05
they were able to modulate their source:
115
293126
2961
ata ishin ne gjendje te modifikonin burimin:
05:08
the pitch, the loudness, the tempo of their voice.
116
296087
3262
lartesine, fortesine,
dhe ritmin e zerit te tyre.
05:11
These are called prosody, and
I've been documenting for years
117
299349
3368
Keto quhen prozodi, dhe prej
vitesh une kam dokumentuar
05:14
that the prosodic abilities of these individuals
118
302717
2277
se si aftesite prozodike te ketyre njerezve
05:16
are preserved.
119
304994
1575
ruhen gjate kohes.
05:18
So when I realized that those same cues
120
306569
4087
Kur kuptova se po te njejtat elemente
05:22
are also important for speaker identity,
121
310656
2769
jane te rendesishme per identitetin zanor,
05:25
I had this idea.
122
313425
2015
me erdhi nje ide.
05:27
Why don't we take the source
123
315440
2516
Pse nuk marrim burimin
05:29
from the person we want the voice to sound like,
124
317956
2213
nga personi te cilin duam t'i ngjaje zeri,
05:32
because it's preserved,
125
320169
1463
duke qene se nuk ka demtime,
05:33
and borrow the filter
126
321632
2135
dhe marrim hua filtrin
05:35
from someone about the same age and size,
127
323767
3229
e nje personi me te njejten moshe dhe peshe,
05:39
because they can articulate speech,
128
327011
2407
duke qene se mund te artikulojne,
05:41
and then mix them?
129
329418
1791
dhe pastaj t'i perziejme ato?
05:43
Because when we mix them,
130
331209
1787
Sepse kur i perziejme ato,
05:44
we can get a voice that's as clear
131
332996
1698
na jepet nje ze po aq i qarte
05:46
as our surrogate talker --
132
334694
1754
sa ai i folesit surrogat --
05:48
that's the person we borrowed the filter from—
133
336448
2595
ky eshte personi te cilit i morrem filtrat hua --
05:51
and is similar in identity to our target talker.
134
339043
4649
dhe i ngjan identitetit te folesit tone te synuar.
05:55
It's that simple.
135
343692
1427
Kaq e thjeshte.
05:57
That's the science behind what we're doing.
136
345119
2934
Kjo eshte shkenca qe fshihet
pas asaj qe po bejme.
06:00
So once you have that in mind,
137
348053
3533
Duke pasur parasysh kete,
06:03
how do you go about building this voice?
138
351586
2258
si ndertohet zeri?
06:05
Well, you have to find someone
139
353844
1480
Epo, si fillim duhet te gjesh dike
06:07
who is willing to be a surrogate.
140
355324
2400
qe eshte i gatshem te behet surrogato.
06:09
It's not such an ominous thing.
141
357724
2264
Nuk eshte aq veprim i mbrapshte.
06:11
Being a surrogate donor
142
359988
1523
Te behesh dhurues surrogato
06:13
only requires you to say a few hundred
143
361511
2788
do te thote thjesht te thuash nga disa qindra
06:16
to a few thousand utterances.
144
364299
2242
ne disa mijera fjale.
06:18
The process goes something like this.
145
366541
2003
Procesi zhvillohet pak a shume keshtu.
06:20
(Video) Voice: Things happen in pairs.
146
368544
2190
(video) Zeri: Gjerat behen ne cift.
06:22
I love to sleep.
147
370734
1925
Mua me pelqen te fle.
06:24
The sky is blue without clouds.
148
372659
3882
Qielli eshte blu dhe pa re.
06:28
RP: Now she's going to go on like this
149
376541
2002
RP: Ajo do te vazhdoje me kete ritem
06:30
for about three to four hours,
150
378543
1919
per tre apo kater ore,
06:32
and the idea is not for her to say everything
151
380462
3005
dhe ideja nuk eshte qe ajo te thote gjithcka
06:35
that the target is going to want to say,
152
383467
2045
qe personi do doje te thoje,
06:37
but the idea is to cover all the different combinations
153
385512
3395
por qe te mbuloje te gjitha kombinimet e mundshme
06:40
of the sounds that occur in the language.
154
388907
3271
te tingullit qe vihen re ne nje gjuhe.
06:44
The more speech you have,
155
392178
1638
Sa me i gjate te jete ky rregjistrim,
06:45
the better sounding voice you're going to have.
156
393816
2305
aq me mire do te tingelloje zeri i personit marres.
06:48
Once you have those recordings,
157
396121
1673
Pasi marrim keto rregjistrime,
06:49
what we need to do
158
397794
1413
ajo qe ne bejme
06:51
is we have to parse these recordings
159
399207
2718
eshte te ndajme keto rregjistrime
06:53
into little snippets of speech,
160
401925
2449
ne fragmente te shkurtra,
06:56
one- or two-sound combinations,
161
404374
2337
ne kombinime me nje apo dy tinguj,
06:58
sometimes even whole words
162
406711
1883
ndonjehere edhe fjale te plota
07:00
that start populating a dataset or a database.
163
408594
4516
me te cilat nisim popullimin e nje baze te dhenash.
07:05
We're going to call this database a voice bank.
164
413110
3717
Kete baze te dhenash do t'a quajme banka e zerave.
07:08
Now the power of the voice bank
165
416827
2096
Fuqia e bankes se zerave
07:10
is that from this voice bank,
166
418923
2014
eshte se nga kjo banke zerash,
07:12
we can now say any new utterance,
167
420937
2011
ne mund te themi fjali te reja,
07:14
like, "I love chocolate" --
168
422948
1424
si per shembull "Mua me pelqejne cokollatat"...
07:16
everyone needs to be able to say that—
169
424372
1739
te gjithe duhet t'a kene mundesine per t'a thene kete--
07:18
fish through that database
170
426111
1831
ne peshkojme ne bazen e te dhenave
07:19
and find all the segments necessary
171
427942
1940
dhe gjejme segmentet e nevojshme per
07:21
to say that utterance.
172
429882
1929
te krijuar ate fjali.
07:23
(Video) Voice: I love chocolate.
173
431811
1789
(Video) Zeri: Mua me pelqejne cokollatat.
07:25
RP: So that's speech synthesis.
174
433600
1391
RP: Pra keshte sintetizohet e folura.
07:26
It's called concatenative synthesis,
and that's what we're using.
175
434991
2573
Quhet sintetizim konkatenativ,
dhe eshte ai qe ne perdorim.
07:29
That's not the novel part.
176
437564
1533
Por nuk eshte kjo risia.
07:31
What's novel is how we make it sound
177
439097
2221
Risia gjendet ne tingullin qe ne i japim
07:33
like this young woman.
178
441318
1457
si ne rastin e kesaj vajze te re.
07:34
This is Samantha.
179
442775
1524
Quhet Samanta.
07:36
I met her when she was nine,
180
444299
2346
Une e kam takuar ku ishte nente vjec,
07:38
and since then, my team and I
181
446645
1897
dhe qe atehere, skuadra ime dhe une
07:40
have been trying to build her a personalized voice.
182
448542
2714
kemi punuar per t'i ndertuar nje ze te personalizuar.
07:43
We first had to find a surrogate donor,
183
451256
3099
Ne fillim na u desh te gjenim nje dhurues surrogato,
07:46
and then we had to have Samantha
184
454355
1818
dhe pastaj duhet t'i kerkonim Samantes
07:48
produce some utterances.
185
456173
1929
te na jepte disa tinguj.
07:50
What she can produce are mostly vowel-like sounds,
186
458102
2379
Ajo mund te prodhoje vetem tinguj qe permbajne zanore,
07:52
but that's enough for us to extract
187
460481
2479
por kjo ishte e mjaftueshme qe ne te identifikonim
07:54
her source characteristics.
188
462960
2285
karakteristikat e burimit te saj.
07:57
What happens next is best described
189
465245
3271
Ajo qe ndodhi pas kesaj mund te pershkruhet
08:00
by my daughter's analogy. She's six.
190
468516
2767
me ane te analogjise se vajzes sime.
Ajo eshte gjashte vjec.
08:03
She calls it mixing colors to paint voices.
191
471283
5422
Ajo kete e quan perzierje ngjyrash per te krijuar zera.
08:08
It's beautiful. It's exactly that.
192
476705
2555
Eshte e mrekullueshme. Ndodh pikerisht keshtu.
08:11
Samantha's voice is like a concentrated sample
193
479260
2860
Zeri i Samantes eshte si nje ekstrakt i perqendruar
08:14
of red food dye which we can infuse
194
482120
2609
i bojes ushqimore te kuqe qe e perziejme
08:16
into the recordings of her surrogate
195
484729
2540
me rregjistrimet e surrogatos se saj
08:19
to get a pink voice just like this.
196
487269
4387
per te arritur tek nje ze i tille.
08:23
(Video) Samantha: Aaaaaah.
197
491656
4491
(video) Samanta: Aaaaaaaa
08:28
RP: So now, Samantha can say this.
198
496147
2808
RP: Tani ajo mund te thoje kete.
08:30
(Video) Samantha: This voice is only for me.
199
498955
3069
(video) Samanta: Ky ze eshte vetem imi.
08:34
I can't wait to use my new voice with my friends.
200
502024
6305
Me zor pres t'a perdor zerin tim te ri me miqte.
08:40
RP: Thank you. (Applause)
201
508329
6417
RP: Faleminderit (duartrokitje)
08:46
I'll never forget the gentle smile
202
514746
2333
Nuk do t'a harroj kurre buzeqeshjen e embel
08:49
that spread across her face
203
517079
1902
qe celi ne fytyren e saj
08:50
when she heard that voice for the first time.
204
518981
3649
kur degjoi kete ze per here te pare.
08:54
Now there's millions of people
205
522630
1882
Ne bote ka miliona njerez
08:56
around the world like Samantha, millions,
206
524512
2833
si Samanta, miliona,
08:59
and we've only begun to scratch the surface.
207
527345
3440
dhe ne sapo kemi filluar te perballemi me problemin.
09:02
What we've done so far is we have
208
530785
1642
Deri tani neve kemi arritur te kemi
09:04
a few surrogate talkers from around the U.S.
209
532427
3859
disa foles surrogato ne SHBA
09:08
who have donated their voices,
210
536286
1507
te cilet kane dhuruar zerat e tyre,
09:09
and we have been using those
211
537793
1928
dhe ne filluam me to
09:11
to build our first few personalized voices.
212
539721
4472
dhe ndertuam vetem disa zera te personalizuar.
09:16
But there's so much more work to be done.
213
544193
1756
Por ka ende shume pune per te bere.
09:17
For Samantha, her surrogate
214
545949
2188
Ne rastin e Samantes surrogati
09:20
came from somewhere in the Midwest, a stranger
215
548137
3046
vinte nga Midwest, nje e huaj
09:23
who gave her the gift of voice.
216
551183
3841
e cila i dhuroi asaj zerin.
09:27
And as a scientist, I'm so excited
217
555024
2153
Si shkencetare, une jam shume e lumtur
09:29
to take this work out of the laboratory
218
557177
1935
qe t'a nxjerr kete pune jashte laboratorit,
09:31
and finally into the real world
219
559112
1800
me ne fund ne boten reale,
09:32
so it can have real-world impact.
220
560912
3165
ne menyre qe te kete nje impakt global.
09:36
What I want to share with you next
221
564077
1582
Dua te ndaj tani me ju
09:37
is how I envision taking this work
222
565659
2175
visionin tim per hapin e ardhshem
09:39
to that next level.
223
567834
2711
te kesaj pune.
09:42
I imagine a whole world of surrogate donors
224
570545
3887
Imagjinoj nje bote te mbushur me dhurues surrogato
09:46
from all walks of life, different sizes, different ages,
225
574432
3260
nga te gjitha fushat e jetes, me
pesha dhe mosha te ndryshme,
09:49
coming together in this voice drive
226
577692
3058
te cilet bashkohen
09:52
to give people voices
227
580750
2270
per t'u dhuruar njerezve zera
09:55
that are as colorful as their personalities.
228
583020
3799
qe jane plot ngjyra si edhe personalitetet e tyre.
09:58
To do that as a first step,
229
586819
2300
Per t'a bere kete, hapi i pare
10:01
we've put together this website, VocaliD.org,
230
589119
3275
ishte krijimi i nje siti web VocaliD.org,
10:04
as a way to bring together those
231
592394
1624
si nje menyre per te mbledhur bashke
10:06
who want to join us as voice donors,
232
594018
2675
te gjithe ata qe duan te na bashkohen si dhurues zeri,
10:08
as expertise donors,
233
596693
1772
dhurues ekspertize,
10:10
in whatever way to make this vision a reality.
234
598465
5339
apo ne menyra te tjera qe do t'a shnderrojne
kete vizion ne realitet.
10:15
They say that giving blood can save lives.
235
603804
4153
Thone se duke dhuruar gjak shpeton jete.
10:19
Well, giving your voice can change lives.
236
607957
4982
E pra, duke dhuruar zerin ndryshon jete.
10:24
All we need is a few hours of speech
237
612939
3050
Na duhen thjeshte disa ore fjalimi
10:27
from our surrogate talker,
238
615989
1491
nga folesi surrogato,
10:29
and as little as a vowel from our target talker,
239
617480
4733
dhe vetem nje zanore nga folesi i synuar,
10:34
to create a unique vocal identity.
240
622213
3711
ne menyre qe te krijojme nje identitet zanor unik.
10:37
So that's the science behind what we're doing.
241
625924
2626
Kjo pra eshte shkenca e fshehur
pas asaj qe po bejme.
10:40
I want to end by circling back to the human side
242
628550
4455
Dua t'a mbyll duke u kthyer tek aspekti njerezor,
10:45
that is really the inspiration for this work.
243
633005
4102
i cili eshte frymezimi i vertete per kete pune.
10:49
About five years ago, we built our very first voice
244
637107
3699
Rreth pese vite me pare ne ndertuam zerin e pare
10:52
for a little boy named William.
245
640806
2501
per nje djale te quajtur William.
10:55
When his mom first heard this voice,
246
643307
2357
Kur nena e tij e degjoi zerin per here te pare,
10:57
she said, "This is what William
247
645664
2345
ajo tha, "Ky do te ishte zeri
11:00
would have sounded like
248
648009
1546
i Williamit nese ai
11:01
had he been able to speak."
249
649555
2449
do te mund te fliste."
11:04
And then I saw William typing a message
250
652004
2418
Pastaj pashe se Williami po shkruante nje mesazh
11:06
on his device.
251
654422
1362
ne aparatin e tij.
11:07
I wondered, what was he thinking?
252
655784
3293
Thashe, c'te jete duke menduar valle?
11:11
Imagine carrying around someone else's voice
253
659077
3590
Imagjinoni sikur te udhetoni me zerin e dikujt tjeter
11:14
for nine years
254
662667
2193
per nente vjet
11:16
and finally finding your own voice.
255
664860
4844
dhe pastaj te gjeni zerin tuaj.
11:21
Imagine that.
256
669704
1377
Imagjinojeni
11:23
This is what William said:
257
671081
2797
Kjo eshte ajo qe Williami tha:
11:25
"Never heard me before."
258
673878
4463
"Nuk e kisha degjuar asnjehere veten."
11:32
Thank you.
259
680417
1619
Faleminderit.
11:34
(Applause)
260
682036
4724
(duartrokitje)
Translated by Aida Musai
Reviewed by Helena Bedalli

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rupal Patel - Speech scientist
People relying on synthetic speech use the voice they’re given, not their own. Rupal Patel created the vocaliD project to change that.

Why you should listen

Northeastern University computer science professor Rupal Patel looks for ways to give voice to the voiceless. As founder and director of the Communication Analysis and Design Laboratory (CadLab), she developed a technology that combines real human voices with the characteristics of individual speech patterns. The result is VocaliD, an innovation that gives people who can't speak the ability to communicate in a voice all their own.

"There's nothing better than seeing the person who's actually going to use it, seeing their reaction, seeing their smile," says Patel.

More profile about the speaker
Rupal Patel | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee