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最慷慨的解囊:「捐聲音」給無法說話的人
最慷慨的解囊:「捐聲音」給無法說話的人
閱讀暖身
Had Helen Keller been born 150 years later, she might have been able to speak at the age of eight with the help of this project – VocaliD – which needs your kind help to make it come true.
如果海倫凱勒能夠晚150年出生，有了Vocal ID這個計畫的幫助，也許她在8 歲的時候就能夠開口說話，而目前這個計畫，需要你的幫忙來讓它實現。
進入本文前，請先想想怎麼表達以下單字：
a) 創作、獨創的概念
b) 義肢的, 假體的
c) 新的, 新穎的,新奇的
VocaliD is the a) brainchild of two speech scientists, who are turning their research into a much larger project. This project synthesizes voices for people who have lost the ability to speak and could speak only in generic types -voices made by computer programs or a fixed character one. The idea of VocaliD, however, is attempting to build a custom voice system for each person. As we all know, voice is unique and personal, and, like a b) prosthetic leg or arm, it makes sense that it should be customized for each person. To achieve this, it needs your help, a recording of your voice.
VocaliD 是由兩位語音科學家所發展出來的研究。如今, 他們要將此項研究擴大。此項研究是針對失去語言能力，只能倚靠單調的電腦程式語音或者配音進行發聲的人們, 進行聲音合成的服務。 而 VocaliD 旨在製造個人化的聲音系統。眾所皆知，聲音是獨特並且個人化的，所以當作為一個協助障礙者的輔助工具時，很合理的應該被量身打造，就像是義肢一樣，也是量身打造所設計。為了達成這個目標，這計畫需要一段你聲音的錄音。
One might be concerned, “does it imply someone would walk around with the same voice of mine and might do things unexpected if it is misused?” Pleasedrop the worry and see how it really works.
說到這，可能有人會擔心「難不成這代表了會有人跟我有一模一樣的聲音在路上晃來晃去而且可能會被拿來濫用？」請別擔心，看看到底這一切是怎麼進行的。
After recording a couple of hours of audio in, for example, a quiet room with a smartphone or an iPAD, you send it to VocaliD, where a program called ModelTalker makes it into the basic units of speech that can be recombined as c) novel words and sentences. Then, in the same step, based on what limit sounds a patient could make, characteristics of the patient’s voice 1) are blended into the donor’s to create a whole new one.
打個比方，在一個安靜的房間裡，用你的智慧型手機或者iPAD錄製幾個小時的音檔，將它寄到 VocaliD，其中的ModelTalker程式會把你的聲音切成基礎的語音單位元素，以便重新進行組合成新的字或者句子。接著，依照同樣的步驟, 將語音障礙者他們受限的發聲元素，萃取出來和你的聲音進行合成，於是創造出全新的聲音系統。
VocaliD is still in its initial stage, and it is keenly looking for help from everyone including voice donors, financial support, and programmers.
VocalID 目前仍在初始階段，而他們正積極的尋求各種協助，包括聲音捐贈者、經濟援助以及電腦工程師。
Current priority 2) lies in making voice donation even easier and cutting down the recording time, especially for kids and other younger potential voice donors. But as it stands already, your voice is just about the easiest thing to make a contribution. If you are interested, just goggle VocaliD and see what you can do to make this dream into reality.
現階段首要任務在於如何讓捐贈聲音變得更容易，以及縮短聲音錄製的時間長短，尤其對於小孩以及較年輕的潛在捐贈者而言。但是現階段，你的聲音會是最簡單的一項貢獻。有興趣的人, 可以Google搜尋 VocaliD, 試試看把夢想變成現實以幫助更多的人。
口語詞彙
- Blend / Blended (with sth)
Blend 和 combination 最大的差別就是，blend是指有效率的混和, 或特別比例的混和。combination則只是把東西湊在一起。blend 可以是主動可以是被動，可以是指兩樣物品混和在一起的動作，或者是被混和的情況。另外還可以作為名詞 blend = good combination.
a. Blended tea, blended coffee 特調茶、特調咖啡。
b. Choose curtains that blend with your décor. 選擇和你的裝潢相稱的窗簾。
c. With his exceptional academic performance in school and intern experience in HP, David showed a blend of youth and good work skills during the interview. 有著傑出的學業表現和在HP當實習生的經驗，David在面試時展現了年輕活力以及良好的工作技能。
- Lie in
lie這個字動詞常作為躺下，但片語lie in用在替代exist這個字時，非常的活靈活現。
I think the talents of reporters in Taiwan lie in story telling rather than reporting the truth. 我想台灣記者的才華與其說是在於報導事實不如說是說故事。