Voice Apps

[Jennanne]

We had our first appointment with the speech therapist and we were hopeful that we could voice bank for Jon. The program is through the University of Buffalo and they use Model Talker. Unfortunately, it looks like Jon's voice has deteriorated to the point that we will not be able to use it.

For the free apps she suggested (apple) UR voice and Verbally (free version). If we wanted to pay she said either Predicatabe ($159) or Verbally ($99). Does anyone have experience with either? We did download the 2 free versions and they seem somewhat limited. Thanks so much!

Jenn

 

[Firefighter58]

Hi there Jenn, I use " My tobiidynavox" it is an app you get for an Ipad. I find it very good, you type in what you want to say then hit speak and it says it. It comes with about thirty different languages in it with spell check. It has many different options in it and I find it very good. It also four or five different options for your voice selection, USEnglish British English, Australian English etc.
I can not speak and I find this very good, it may be a little slow because I type slow, but that is not the machines fault. I also use the same Ipad for this text and email. The Canadian ALS society sent me to look at about five or six communicators and I found this to be the best.

Al

 

[Jennanne]

Thanks so much Al, we'll definitely give it a try! His voice is still ok as long as he speaks slow and does not strain it, but he's definitely losing it a little at a time. He's bulbar onset, so he still gets around pretty well, losing his voice has been so frustrating for him.

I just want to make everything as easy as possible for him. We just bought a new iPad and ordered a keyboard for it so hopefully he'all be able to type quicker. Our speech therapist told us there were other communication devices available, but that most also preferred a tablet. Thank you again!

Jenn

 

[Twitcherama]

I've been using Proloquo4Text on my iPad and iPhone. It works great. Lots of voice options, including some fun ones like Yoda, a bad guy, a texas cowboy, etc. I've been working with VocaliD on creating a voice that sounds more like me and that only works on Speak4Yourself. I haven't messed around with it yet, but I believe it is mostly button driven. I've been told there's a typing section as well.

 

[Jennanne]

Wow, thanks! That sounds pretty neat, my husband has a tremendous sense of humor, he would definitely like that!

For the program that creates a voice like yours, does it use your current voice or can it use old recordings (like on a voice mail)?

 

[Twitcherama]

They can do either a recreation of your voice based on your recordings, but the recording process is quite long. If he can't speak, or speaks with a slur, then it probably won't work. I was an idiot and just thought, eh, I have time. And the voice got worse, and then my window was closed.

The other option is to record him saying "ah" a few times, and they match you with another donor. We're in that process now. We just heard my matches and, to be honest, wasn't terribly pleased. But it's a process, so I'm hopeful that we'll come out with something worthwhile. It's expensive, too.

 

[Jennanne]

Yeah, unfortunately I think he is past the point of the voice recreation his voice is too weak. Thank you so much for your advice, I think we definitely have some good options!