Re: [css3-speech] voice-family

On 20 Jul 2011, at 23:00, fantasai wrote:

> On 07/06/2011 12:54 PM, Daniel Weck wrote:
>> Please have a look at the updated prose:
>> 
>> http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css3-speech/#voice-props-voice-family
> 
> I think my concern here is that using numerical ages gives a level of
> precision in specifying that is nowhere near the level of precision
> in voice matching. For example, at what numerical age does a male voice
> break?
> 
> I think for this level it might make sense to revert back to keywords
> (which we can define as a specific numeric age for mapping to SSML),
> and introduce more fine-grained control later when the voice-matching
> algorithm is precise enough to support that.

I agree that we should avoid using prose that appears to claim a level of precision that we are effectively unable to provide. I propose the following prose instead:

---
Possible values are 'child', 'young' and 'old', indicating the preferred age category to match during voice selection. The mapping with SSML ages is defined as follows: 'child' = up to 15 y/o, 'young' = between 16 and 45 y/o, 'old' = 46 y/o onwards.
NOTE: The interpretation of the relationship between a person's age and a recognizable type of voice cannot realistically be defined in a universal manner, as it effectively depends on numerous cultural and linguistic variations. The values provided by this specification therefore represent a simplified model that can be reasonably applied to a great variety of speech locales, albeit at the cost of a certain degree of approximation. Future versions of this specification may refine the level of precision of the voice-matching algorithm, as speech processor implementations become more standardized.
---

Let me know what you think. Regards, Daniel

Received on Monday, 1 August 2011 16:40:48 UTC