Tokyo venture recreates voices via AI for cancer patients

A very positive use of technology to help patients, but of course it would require very strong safety measures. Depending on the situation, having anybody be able to "speak" with the patient's voice just by typing text could become a serious risk.

They can’t even let me die in peace.

This is the kind of technology that bright Japanese minds should be focusing their talents on, not musical toilet seats or robots that gyrate spastically on a dance floor.

“ A Tokyo-based venture company is drawing attention in Japan for its unique service of recreating voices via artificial intelligence for people who lose theirs due to cancer surgery. CoeFont Co uses AI to learn the pitch and accent of a user's voice, along with their conversational speed before surgery takes place. It then creates a synthetic voice that reads out text inputted by users that sounds just like their original voice. Led by a student and faculty member of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, CoeFont has received over 100 inquiries for the free of charge service. “

This is Japan. This is the country we fell in love with.

..

“ Sakai said, "The first person I spoke to after the surgery was a nurse at the hospital. She was surprised to hear that my voice was the same as before, that made me happy." As Sakai types a sentence on her smartphone, a natural sounding voice comes from a speaker a short distance away. The words are smoothly connected, making it difficult to believe that the voice has been synthesized. "There is nothing strange about it," Masahiko, the husband, said. "We converse naturally." “

amazing what people (with the heart in the right place and) good intentions can do.

..

.. reminded me of Val Kilmer and his (recent) role in Maverick; (it was) realistic and very emotional.

*amazing **what people (with the heart in the right place and) with good intentions can do.*

@jayThis is the kind of technology that bright Japanese minds should be focusing their talents on

I agree, and wouldn't it be nice to think there might be other businesses like this Tokyo baed venture company that can utilize the talents of Japanese medical experts, scientists, engineers and technicians to develop more that is beneficial to the society as a whole. The country's aging rulers must be aware of health problems that affect many, perhaps including themselves, and I would hope they see that much can be done to improve healthcare for themselves and all, and perhaps even that profits could be made in doing so.

Stephen Hawking could have used a service like this but he was happy with his robotic voice because it added to his brand name. Still it’s a nice service and a great idea to help people grasp with the psychological trauma of loosing their own voice.

Very good. Is this the same company that did it for Val Kilmer's character in Top Gun: Maverick? He used the same tech.

“ Very good. Is this the same company that did it for Val Kilmer's character in Top Gun: Maverick? He used the same tech. “

No; that was Sonantic – an AI tech company based in London. (but) same goals, same amazing work. ; it was great to see Val Kilmer in Maverick; / what an emotional moment that was.

Shogo Hayakawa, the CoeFont president and a third-year student at the Tokyo university.

Nice to read this person is a student and innovator. Hats off to Hayakawa-san and faculty at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Amazon got there faster.

Alexa to Mimic Any Voice With Just a Minute of Recorded Audio

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/tech/amazon-alexa-mimic-voices

I can see that there will be a lot more opportunities open up when they start mass producing this product, the biggest draw back in the past to the electronic voices is that they are so machanical and robotic, i hope they pay attention to non brakeable screens, or a tougher one, and how is this soft ware stored? on a mobile phone? tablet, i hope its backed up in shape or form, lets face it the last thing you need is the soft ware to get corrupted and loose the original voice. i hope the students get the recognition they deserve its a brilliant and worth while product.

Good to see the folks motivated by "Necessity is the mother of invention". without spending taxes to visit Silicon Valley.