Happy New Year or Bloavez mad!
Imagine a voice capable of rendering a text in Breton with the right pronunciation and intonation, or even capable of speaking directly, adapting to the context?
This feat, based on artificial intelligence, is coming to life on the new digital portal of the Office public de la langue bretonne, due to be launched at the end of 2023.
Developed under the leadership of Damien Lolive, professor at Enssat, and in collaboration with his Expression research team, this research project automatically generates the speech corresponding to a text, placing particular emphasis on the quality of pronunciation and respect for tonal accent. It thus becomes an essential reference for language learning.
As well as being useful for educational purposes, this voice synthesiser paves the way for a future in which Breton could be used more widely in everyday life, whether through GPS systems, voice messages on public transport, lifts, answering machines, and much more...
If you'd like to discover some of the results of this research, "Sintezenn" or "speech synthesis" can be consulted on the brand new digital portal for the Breton language. Launched at the end of 2023 by the Office public de la langue bretonne (OPLB) and major players in the Breton digital sector, including IRISA, the aim of this portal is to make the Breton language more dynamic, simplify its learning and propel it onto the digital stage, all free of charge.
This collaborative project between the Expression research team and the non-profit publisher Skol Vreizh, funded by the OPLB and the Brittany Regional Council, places IRISA at the heart of technological advances in support of the Breton language.
To find out more:
Press release (in french): https://abp.bzh/ouverture-d-un-portail-num-rique-avec-diff-re-58727
Article (June 2020) on the IRISA website: When research seeks to preserve and popularize the Breton language
Article Ouest France December 2023 (in french) : https://www.ouest-france.fr/bretagne/culture-un-portail-pour-faire-vivre-la-langue-bretonne-sur-le-numerique-f54558fe-7733-11ee-a881-7202f155b2ed