[tw5] Presenting Text-to-Speech v1.0.0: the flip-side of Speech-to-Text!

Google Group (Read Only)
#1

After seeing some recommendations for a text-to-speech plugin in TW5 while releasing the Speech-to-Text plugin v1.0.5 with BTC, I took it upon myself to make my first solo plugin: text-to-speech!

How does it work?
Text-to-Speech uses the web text-to-speech API, which functions like a screen reader. To apply this to TiddlyWiki, I made a custom function calling this API, which then takes as arguments a selected area of text using cutom code I wrote!

Get Started!
To get started with the plugin, you can install by drag-and-drop from text-to-speech.finnsoftware.net! Then, anywhere in your TiddlyWiki, you can highlight text, and press the hotkey Alt+Shift+E, and listen to the plugin read the text to you!

What to Expect in the Future?

  • test for foreign language support
  • test support across browsers
  • button in toolbar/editing
#2

Flanc,

Exciting and thanks for this. I am getting my firefox menus with Alt+Shift+E

In chrome I heard it momentarily only. I will experiment further.

Regards
Tones

#3

Good to know, @TW Tones, I’ll change the hotkey to Alt+Shift+L when I can (Alt+Shift+R is taken by speech-to-text already, so I had to choose something different.)

#4

@TW Tones, I have changed the hotkey from Alt+Shift+E to Alt+Shift+L. Let me know how it goes!

#5

Will the text for I’M THE URBAN SPACEMAN do as well spoken as I'm The Urban Spaceman - Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band tribute - Lyrics - YouTube ???

#6

URBAN SPACEMAN

I’m the urban spaceman baby, I’ve got speed,
I’ve got everything I need,
I’m the urban spaceman baby, I can fly,
I’m a supersonic guy.
I don’t need pleasure,
I don’t feel pain,
If you were to knock me down,
I’d just get up again.
I’m the urban spaceman babe and I’m making out,
I’m all about.
I wake up every morning, with a smile upon my face,
My natural exuberance, spills out all over the place.
I’m the urban spaceman, I’m intelligent and clean,
Know what I mean?
I’m the urban spaceman, as a lover second to none,
It’s a lot of fun.
I never let my friends down, I never make a boob,
I’m a glossy magazine, an advert in the tube.
I’m the urban spaceman babe, but here comes the twist,
I don’t exist !

#7

Ciao Flanc …

I can see UTILITY in reading back text. BUT I kinda think in TW it needs a bigger aim than just text as native phonic computer tools do that ALREADY.

I DO think reading COMBINED with existing tools like ERIC SHULMAN’s excellent “Tiddler Scroller” could be very neat???

Ask if you need links if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

TT

#8

@TiddlyTweeter:

This is something I have been thinking about too. I’d love to expand the plug-in and make it a Right-Click menu for TW.

This menu would have a button to read selected text, highlight, bold, underline, etc. If there was no selected text range, it would give the option for a new tiddler, etc.

What do you think? Can you imagine anything else to put on the right click menu?

#9

Ciao Flanc …

What would be wrong with a normal button on the View Bar for a Tiddler for “Read Aloud This Tiddler” ??

I think that might be more useful than selections?

Just thoughts
TT

#10

That is definitely a simpler implementation, @TiddlyTweeter. I will work on adding this for v1.0.2

#11

Ciao Flanc

I encourage you to look at and think a bit about https://tiddlytools.com/autoscroll.html

Eric Shulman did a mass of work on AUTO-SCROLLING that went into the usual desert of neglect.

NOW I’m wondering IF, somehow YOUR reading might be somehow combined with HIS auto scrolling text of Tiddlers?

Mein Ziel ist süß, obwohl es vielleicht nicht dem Zeitgeist entspricht.

Best wishes
TT

#12

Interesting Idea. It took me a while, but now I think I get what you’re saying: you would like the plugin to read, moving line by line to show WHAT it is currently reading.

I’ll have to look at implementation, but the idea is definitely good!

#13

I don’t know IF it needs to slavish follow it. Hopefully not. Merely that reading rate might be roughly matched to scroll rate in some way.

I’m GLAD you grasped my basic idea. Maybe there is some mileage in it?

Best wishes
TT

#14

AutoScroll — TiddlyTools: "Small Tools for Big Ideas!" (tm) uses CSS transforms and transitions to implement a timed autoscrolling display.
In particular, look in AutoScroll — TiddlyTools: "Small Tools for Big Ideas!" (tm) at the start() and stop() macros that actually apply the CSS syntax

-e

#15

Thanks for the info! Rather than implement my plugin into others, I figure I’ll just add a scroll JS function. Taking a look at the autoscroll plugin, it just seems to mathematically difficult to translate the scroll time/distance into coordinates. Instead, I can just write a function with JS to scroll to certain coords, which is much more mathematically feasible since I can send the line num to the function.