babbletron
an interactive exploration of computer generated speech
The babbletron project started as a way to experiment with the speech and singing capabilities of the GinSing shield. I was also having some fun working with the matrix LED displays, so I decided to combine the two into a project for the Maker Faire. To make it approachable, I used a big, bright inviting control surface with candy colored arcade buttons. I turned the LED matrix into an animated face that mouthed the allophones. Experimenters could record and play back chains of allophones to create their own words and phrases, and the babbletron would sing back the recording.
The success of the babbletron inspired me to return to the PC to create a Java application that had similar functionality, but included a dictionary and API call reference so that uses of the GinSing shield can use it to experiment and download their own phrases and songs as part of their projects. The most fun came in the song creation, where I did several popular songs such as "daisy", "take me out to ballgame", and so on. These are currently in the GinSing babblebot dictionary.
