ALTextToSpeech API¶

NAOqi Audio - Overview | API | Tutorial

Method list¶

As any module, this module inherits methods from ALModule API. It also has the following specific methods:

class ALTextToSpeechProxy¶

ALTextToSpeechProxy::disableNotifications()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::enableNotifications()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getAvailableLanguages()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getAvailableVoices()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getLanguage()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getParameter()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getVoice()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::getVolume()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::loadVoicePreference()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::say()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::sayToFile()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::sayToFileAndPlay()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::setLanguage()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::setParameter()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::setVoice()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::setVolume()
ALTextToSpeechProxy::stopAll()

Methods¶

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::disableNotifications()¶: Disables notifications publishing in ALMemory during the synthesis (disabled by default). Please refer to ALTextToSpeechProxy::enableNotifications() for further informations.

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::enableNotifications()¶

Enables notifications publishing in ALMemory during the synthesis (disabled by default). Once enabled, the following notifications are generated:

ALTextToSpeech/CurrentBookMark: indicates the occurrence of the bookmarks that are placed (using “mrk=number” number being an integer [0 - 65535]) in the string that needs to be synthesized, see Acapela Mobility Text TAGS for further information.
ALTextToSpeech/CurrentSentence: indicates the sentence that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/CurrentWord: indicates the word that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/PositionOfCurrentWord: indicates the word that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/TextStarted: indicates if a sentence is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/TextDone: indicates when the current sentence synthesis is done.

std::vector<std::string> ALTextToSpeechProxy::getAvailableLanguages()¶

Returns the list of the languages currently installed on the system. Each language is given in English.

Returns:	Languages installed

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_getavailablelanguages.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)

lang = tts.getAvailableLanguages();
print "Available languages: " + str(lang)

std::vector<std::string> ALTextToSpeechProxy::getAvailableVoices()¶

Returns the list of the voices currently installed on the system. Each voice is given in English.

Returns:	Voices Installed

std::string ALTextToSpeechProxy::getLanguage()¶

Returns the language (English name) currently used by the text to speech engine.

Returns:	Current language used by the text to speech engine

float ALTextToSpeechProxy::getParameter(const std::string& parameter)¶

Returns the value of one of the text to speech engine parameters. The available parameters are: “pitchShift”, “doubleVoice”,”doubleVoiceLevel” and “doubleVoiceTimeShift”. Please refers to ALTextToSpeechProxy::setParameter() for details about this parameters.

Parameters:	parameter – Name of the parameter
Returns:	Value of the specified parameter

std::string ALTextToSpeechProxy::getVoice()¶

Returns the voice currently used by the text to speech engine.

Returns:	Name of the current voice

float ALTextToSpeechProxy::getVolume()¶

Gets the current gain applied to the signal synthesized by the text to speech engine. The default value is 1.0.

Returns:	Volume [0 - 1]

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::loadVoicePreference(const std::string& preferencesFileSuffix)¶

Loads a voice and the related set of voice parameters defined in a XML file contained in the preferences folder. The name of the XML file must be of the form ALTextToSpeech_Voice_preferencesFileSuffix. The official voice of NAO in each language is defined in this way. Please refers to Tutorial for further details.

Parameters:	preferencesFileSuffix – Name of the voice preference file

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_loadvoicepreference.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)
    
# Loads the set of voice parameters contained in the ALTextToSpeech_Voice_NaoOfficialVoiceEnglish.xml file
tts.loadVoicePreference("NaoOfficialVoiceEnglish")

tts.say("Voice preference loaded")

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::say(const std::string& stringToSay)¶

Provides the specified string of character to the text to speech engine, launch the synthesis process and send the result to NAO’s speakers. String encoding must be UTF-8.

Parameters:	stringToSay – Text to say, encoded in UTF-8.

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_say.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)
    
#Says a test std::string
tts.say("This is a sample text!")

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::sayToFile(const std::string& stringToSay, const std::string& fileName)¶

Works similarly to ALTextToSpeechProxy::say() but the synthesized signal is recorded into the specified file instead of being sent to NAO’s loudspeakers. The signal is encoded with a sample rate of 22050Hz (European languages) and 16000Hz (Asian languages), format S16_LE, 2 channels.

Parameters:	stringToSay – Text to be synthesized, encoded in UTF-8 fileName – RAW file where the synthesized signal should be recorded

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_saytofile.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)

#Says a test std::string, and save it into a file
tts.sayToFile("This is a sample text, written in a file!", "/tmp/sample_text.raw")

int ALTextToSpeechProxy::sayToFileAndPlay(const std::string& stringToSay)¶

Works similarly to ALTextToSpeechProxy::sayToFile() but sent also the synthesized signal to NAO’s loudspeakers.

Parameters:	stringToSay – Text to say, encoded in UTF-8.
Returns:	Id of the task. Can be used to interrupt it.

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::setLanguage(const std::string& language)¶

Sets the language (English name) currently used by the text to speech system. Each NAOqi restart will however reset that setting to the default language that can be set on NAO’s web page.

Parameters:	language – Language (English name)

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::setParameter(const std::string& parameter, const float& value)¶

Sets parameters of the text to speech engine. The available parameters are:

pitchShift: applies a pitch shift to the voice. The value indicates the ratio between the new fundamental frequencies and the original one (examples: 2.0: an octave above, 1.5: a quint above). Acceptable range is [1.0 - 4]. 0 disables the effect.
doubleVoice: adds a second voice to the first one. The value indicates the ratio between the second voice fundamental frequency and the first one. Acceptable range is [1.0 - 4]. 0 disables the effect.
doubleVoiceLevel: sets the gain of the additional voice compared to the original one. Acceptable range is [0 - 4]. 0 disables the effect.
doubleVoiceTimeShift: sets the delay (seconds) between the doubled voice and the original one. Acceptable range is [0 - 0.5].

Parameters:	parameter – Name of the parameter value – Value of the parameter

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_setparameter.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)

#Applies a pitch shifting to the voice
tts.setParameter("pitchShift", 1.5)
#Deactivates double voice
tts.setParameter("doubleVoice", 0.0)

tts.say("Pitch shift and double voice changed")

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::setVoice(const std::string& voiceID)¶

Changes the voice used by the text-to-speech engine. The voice identifier must belong to the installed voices, that can be listed using the ALTextToSpeechProxy::getAvailableVoices() method.

Parameters:	voiceID – Name of the voice

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_setvoice.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)

#Changes the basic voice of the synthesis
tts.setVoice("Kenny22Enhanced")

tts.say("Voice changed to Kenny")

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::setVolume(const float& volume)¶

Sets the current gain applied to the signal synthesized by the text to speech engine. The default value is 1.0.

Parameters:	volume – Gain

import sys
from naoqi import ALProxy

if (len(sys.argv) < 2):
    print "Usage: 'python texttospeech_setvolume.py IP [PORT]'"
    sys.exit(1)

IP = sys.argv[1]
PORT = 9559
if (len(sys.argv) > 2):
    PORT = sys.argv[2]
try:
    tts = ALProxy("ALTextToSpeech", IP, PORT)
except Exception,e:
    print "Could not create proxy to ALTextToSpeech"
    print "Error was: ",e
    sys.exit(1)

#Changes the volume
tts.setVolume(0.5)
tts.say("Volume set to 50%")

void ALTextToSpeechProxy::stopAll()¶: This method stops the current and all the pending tasks immediately.

ALTextToSpeech/CurrentBookMark: indicates the occurrence of the bookmarks that are placed (using “mrk=number” number being an integer [0 - 65535]) in the string that needs to be synthesized, see Acapela Mobility Text TAGS for further information.
ALTextToSpeech/CurrentSentence: indicates the sentence that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/CurrentWord: indicates the word that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/PositionOfCurrentWord: indicates the word that is currently synthesized.
ALTextToSpeech/TextDone: indicates when the current sentence synthesis is done.
ALTextToSpeech/TextStarted: indicates if a sentence is currently synthesized.

Events¶

Event: "CurrentBookMark" callback(std::string eventName, int value, std::string subscriberIdentifier)¶

Indicates the occurrence of the bookmarks that are placed (using “mrk=number” number being an integer [0 - 65535]) in the string that needs to be synthesized, see Acapela Mobility Text TAGS for further information.

Parameters:	eventName (std::string) – “CurrentBookMark” value – Current bookmark. subscriberIdentifier (std::string) –

Note