Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal language text into speech. Most of the text-to-speech software can read text-based files with natural voices using various voice engines. The text-to-speech voice engine on Vista is Microsoft Anna, and Microsoft Sam on the Windows XP. Vista users can hear a very clear voice of Anna, and the voice quality of Microsoft Anna is much better than that of Microsoft Sam. The speech synthesis Windows program called narrator has been shipped with Windows2000, Windows XP and Vista. If Windows users want to get mp3 files of the speech too, they can install a free text-to-speech and text-to-m3 application from panopreter.com. Panopreter is the text-to-speech and text-to-mp3 freeware, it reads text files and converts speech into wave and mp3 files, Users can import generated audio files to portable devices, and listen to them while walking, jogging or commuting to work. Speech synthesis has been a vital assistive technology tool and its application in this area is significant and widespread, now commonly used by people with dyslexia and other reading difficulties as well as by pre-literate youngsters. Meanwhile, speech synthesis applications and gadgets are language learning tools. Speech synthesis techniques are now also used in entertainment productions such as games, anime and similar, and widely used in telecommunication products too.
