News on the web: listen to the magazine Elhuyar

2014/04/02 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Irudiak/Soinuak
• Softwarea

To read that the screen is too small from your smartphone or tablet, walking or driving, you don't want to read, you can give the button play and listen to the content of the magazine you want. If you want the voice of a woman or a man, you want to listen faster or slower, you want to jump back or forth… you choose and if you want, you get into a number and we have implemented the possibility of listening from beginning to end.

--> "Instead of reading, listening", article by developer Igor Leturia with the detail of technology

From text to speech

The technology implemented on the web of Elhuyar magazine is known as TTS (Text To Speech) in English. This technology generates the audio of a speech from a text, being the most natural possible. For the Basque language, the research group of the UPV Aholkularitza has been a pioneer and referent in this work. They obtain a neutral synthetic voice of very good quality and that can be used in applications. For this reason, in collaboration with Zapore Jai, the Elhuyar Language and Technology unit has developed, through voice synthesis, listening technology instead of reading web pages.

At the moment, the technology has been installed on the web of the magazine Elhuyar and in Zientzia.net. When the user is in a content, a bar in which a typical button appears in the form of “play” will appear on the top. By clicking this button you will begin to hear the article. Listening is repeated and the phrase that is listening appears marked.

The system developed by the Elhuyar Science and Technology unit allows you to hear from beginning to end a number of the magazine.

When listening to the content, the user will be able to navigate through the hearing (through the previous or next sentence, the previous or later paragram, or the place they want), voice (woman or man) and speed. And in the interviews, for the listener to differentiate the questions and answers, read one another with a different voice. In addition, the possibility of listening to a number of the magazine from beginning to end has been implemented. All development has been done using HTML5 standard technology.

The developer Igor Leturia, from the department of Language and Technology of Elhuyar, explained the details of the work done in the section “Digital World” of the magazine Elhuyar of April, in the article "Instead of reading, ENTZUN".

Web adapted to mobile devices

Along with the adaptation of the magazine's web site, the magazine's web site has been enabled to browse from tablets and mobile phones. Now, the web automatically detects the type of device that the user is using – computer, tablet or mobile phone – and, depending on the device, it structures the content of the magazine in one way or another to offer a menu and contents of the form and size that best suits the type of device. Regardless of the device, the web allows access to all sections and contents with the most comfortable organization to navigate in each case.