Sony Corporation

Justsystem Corporation

Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Sony France S.a.

Justsytem Corporation

Nobuhide Yamazaki

Kenichiro Kobayashi

Makoto Akabane

Tomoaki Nitta

Erika Kobayashi

Keiichi Yamada

Masato Shimakawa

Hiroki Uchiyama

Hiroo Kitagawa

Toshiyuki Kumakura

Pierre Yves Oudeyer

The text format of input data is checked, and is converted into a system-manipulated format. It is further determined if the input data is in an HTML or e-mail format using tags, heading information, and the like. The converted data is divided into blocks in a simple manner such that elements in the blocks can be checked based on repetition of predetermined character patterns. Each block section is tagged with a tag indicating a block. The data divided into blocks is parsed based on tags, character patterns, etc., and is structured. A table in text is also parsed, and is segmented into cells. Finally, tree-structured data having a hierarchical structure is generated based on the sentence-structured data. A sentence-extraction template paired with the tree-structured data is used to extract sentences.

Document processing apparatus, document processing method, document processing program and recording medium

A rule based speech synthesis apparatus by which concatenation distortion may be less than a preset value without dependency on utterance, wherein a parameter correction unit reads out a target parameter for a vowel from a target parameter storage, responsive to the phoneme at a leading end and at a trailing end of a speech element and acoustic feature parameters output from a speech element selector, and accordingly corrects the acoustic feature parameters of the speech element. The parameter correction unit corrects the parameters, so that the parameters ahead and behind the speech element are equal to the target parameter for the vowel of the corresponding phoneme, and outputs the corrected parameters.

Rule based speech synthesis method and apparatus

A speech synthesis apparatus and a speech synthesis method, in which a waveform of a desired formant shape may be generated with a small volume of computing operations. A voiced sound generating unit of the speech synthesis apparatus includes n single formant generating units, an adder for summing these outputs to generate a one-pitch waveform, a one-pitch buffer unit, and a waveform overlapping unit for overlapping a number of the one-pitch waveforms as the one-pitch waveform is shifted by one pitch period each time. Each single formant generating unit is supplied with three parameters, namely a center frequency of a formant representing the formant position, a formant bandwidth, and a formant gain and reads out the band characteristics waveform at a readout interval, derived from the bandwidth wn, from a band characteristics waveform storage unit to effect expansion along the time axis. The resulting waveform is multiplied with a sine wave of the center frequency to output a pitch waveform for a formant representing characteristics of a formant.

Speech synthesis apparatus and speech synthesis method

The emotion is to be added to the synthesized speech as the prosodic feature of the language is maintained. In a speech synthesis device, a language processorgenerates a string of pronunciation marks from the text, and a prosodic data generating unitcreates prosodic data, expressing the time duration, pitch, sound volume or the like parameters of phonemes, based on the string of pronunciation marks. A constraint information generating unitis fed with the prosodic data and with the string of pronunciation marks to generate the constraint information which limits the changes in the parameters to add the so generated constraint information to the prosodic data. A emotion filter, fed with the prosodic data, to which has been added the constraint information, changes the parameters of the prosodic data, within the constraint, responsive to the feeling state information, imparted to it. A waveform generating unitsynthesizes the speech waveform based on the prosodic data the parameters of which have been changed.

Method and apparatus for speech synthesis, program, recording medium, method and apparatus for generating constraint information and robot apparatus

Various sensors detect conditions outside a robot and an operation applied to the robot, and output the results of detection to a robot-motion-system control section. The robot-motion-system control section determines a behavior state according to a behavior model. A robot-thinking-system control section determines an emotion state according to an emotion model. A speech-synthesizing-control-information selection section determines a field on a speech-synthesizing-control-information table according to the behavior state and the emotion state. A language processing section analyzes in grammar a text for speech synthesizing sent from the robot-thinking-system control section, converts a predetermined portion according to a speech-synthesizing control information, and outputs to a rule-based speech synthesizing section. The rule-based speech synthesizing section synthesizes a speech signal corresponding to the text for speech synthesizing.

Speech synthesizing apparatus, speech synthesizing method, and recording medium using a plurality of substitute dictionaries corresponding to pre-programmed personality information

Document processing apparatus, document processing method, document processing program, and recording medium

In a synchronization control apparatus, a voice-language-information generating section generates the voice language information of a word which a robot utters. A voice synthesizing section calculates phoneme information and a phoneme continuation duration according to the voice language information, and also generates synthesized-voice data according to an adjusted phoneme continuation duration. An articulation-operation generating section calculates an articulation-operation period according to the phoneme information. A voice-operation adjusting section adjusts the phoneme continuation duration and the articulation-operation period. An articulation-operation executing section operates an organ of articulation according to the adjusted articulation-operation period.

Synchronization control apparatus and method, and recording medium

A sentence or a singing is to be synthesized with a natural speech close to the human voice. To this end, singing metrical data are formed in a tag processing unitin a singing synthesis unitin a speech synthesis apparatusbased on singing data and an analyzed text portion. A language analysis unitperforms language processing on text portions other than the singing data. As for a text portion registered in a natural metrical dictionary, as determined by this language processing, corresponding natural metrical data is selected and its parameters are adjusted in a metrical data adjustment unitbased on phonemic segment data of a phonemic segment storage unitin the metrical data adjustment unit. As for a text portion not registered in the natural metrical dictionary, a phonemic symbol string is generated in a natural metrical dictionary storage unit, after which metrical data are generated in a metrical generating unit. A waveform generating unitconcatenates necessary phonemic segment data, based on the natural metrical data, metrical data and the singing metrical data to generate speech waveform data.

Speech synthesis method and apparatus, program, recording medium and robot apparatus

Identification information, access information indicating that a main body of a mail message has not been accessed nor read at a destination terminal, information about the sender, information about the receiver, time and date information, and subject information each collated to each other is stored and managed as a transmitted mail managing information in a mail box. When a mail message is transmitted, a transmitted mail message including a return mail program actuated to return a response, when the transmitted mail message is accessed and read at the destination terminal, an acknowledgement that the transmitted mail message has been accessed and read and identification information for the transmitted mail message as a returned mail to a server. When information as to whether the transmitted mail message has been accessed and read or not is obtained from the received return mail message, the identification information is extracted from the received return mail message and the access information for the transmitted mail message corresponding to the identification information is changed to information indicating that the transmitted mail message has been accessed and read.

Electronic mail system and electronic mail access acknowledging method

Voice-generating information, comprising discrete voice data for velocity or pitch of a voice is made by dispensing the discrete data so that the voice data is not dependent on a time lag between phonemes and at the same time is present at a relative level against a reference thereof. The said information includes data on plural types of voice tone, and is stored in a voice-generating information storing section. Voice tone data indicating sound parameters for each voice element, such as phoneme for each voice tone type, is stored in a voice tone storing section. Voice data, corresponding to the type of voice tone in the voice-generating information stored in the voice-generating storing section, is selected from a plurality of voice type data stored in the voice tone storing section under control by a control section. Meter patterns, which occur successively in the direction of a time axis, are developed according to the voice-generating information. A voice waveform is synthesized according to the meter patterns and to the selected voice tone data with the voice outputted from a speaker.

Synthesizing a voice by developing meter patterns in the direction of a

A spread sheet reading-out/collating apparatus, in which a spread sheet preparation module obtains a range to be read out from a position of a header cell specified by a read-out object specifying module using a read-out range determining module and outputs cell data within the range to be read out as well as the display format to a voice-generating data generation module, a voice-generating data generation module generates voice-generating data for a text comprising a Chinese and a Japanese characters mixed therein, and a voice synthesis module outputs voices based on the voice-generating data.

Spread sheet reading-out/collating apparatus, spread sheet

The table document preparation module prepares a table document containing cells, the read-out attribute setting module sets a read-out attribute specifying a way of reading-out cell data supplied through the setting screen from the table document preparation module being assisted by the setting display module, and voice-generating data generation module generates voice-generating data for the table document according to the way of reading out specified by the read-out attribute, and the voice synthesis module synthesizes voices according to the voice-generating data.

Method and apparatus for reading-out/collating a table document, and

A voice-generating information making apparatus comprises: a talking way data storing section for storing therein talking way data comprising character string information grouped according to the character string information, a character string input unit for inputting a character string (consisting of a control section, an application storing section, a key entry section, and a display section), a retrieving unit for retrieving a group having the same character string information as the inputted character string, a voice tone data storing section for storing therein a plurality of voice tone data, a voice synthesizing section for synthesizing a voice, a voice selecting unit for selecting a desired voice from the synthesized voice, and a voice-generating document storing section for storing therein talking way data corresponding to the selected voice as a voice-generating document in correlation to the inputted character string.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Nobuhide Yamazaki