Personal voice feature | What the Tech?

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — Apple recently said you’ll be able to make your iPhone speak in your voice, which could help if you lose your ability to speak.

The accessibility feature “Personal Voice” makes conversations easier for people who lose their voice. Apple says it can be used in voice and video calls, as well as personal conversations. When it rolls out, you can find it in the accessibility menu within your phone’s settings.

Even now, you can have your phone speak text aloud. Just highlight some text and scroll through the options until you see “Speak.”

Your phone will read that text back out loud using one of Apple’s computerized voices. Soon, though, you can use your voice instead.

This technology is similar to what The Acapela Group uses to help people who lose their ability to speak clearly. They do this so people can maintain their identity and continue speaking the way they sounded before.

It is very simple to do too.

All you need is to capture about 10 minutes or 50 sentences of the person’s speech before they lose their capability for speaking. Within 24 hours we generate a digital voice and a text-to-speech voice that can be used on any tablet, PC, or mobile phone.

ALS patients can record their voices in the early stages. When they type a response or question, the people in the room will hear their voices rather than a computer recording.

Apple says its Personal Voice feature is part of an iPhone and iPad update coming later this year.