The voice-changer system will produce computer-generated speech within milliseconds, allowing users to control factors like age, gender, and dialect.
Researchers are developing a new system that will allow people to speak anonymously in real time through computer-generated voices to help protect privacy and avoid censorship or retaliation.
The technology is intended to help people such as intelligence officers carrying out sensitive missions, crime witnesses concerned about being identified by perpetrators, and whistleblowers who fear retaliation.
The three-year project, led by Honeywell and including collaborators from the University of Rochester, Texas A&M, and the University of Texas at Dallas, is funded by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and part of the Anonymous Real-Time Speech (ARTS) program.
The voice-changer project has three main objectives. First, the system will transform what a user says into a digital voice within a few milliseconds, ensuring that it can be used in real-time conversations.
Second, the team aims to allow users to specify what they call static traits, allowing control over the digital voice’s age, gender, and dialect. Lastly, they want to neutralize what they call dynamic traits, such as emotions or health status that could potentially tip the identity of the user.