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{{Short description|Range of speech synthesis and recognition technologies from Apple Inc}}
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'''PlainTalk''' is the collective name for several [[speech synthesis]] ('''MacInTalk''') and [[speech recognition]] technologies developed by [[Apple Inc.]]
'''PlainTalk''' is the collective name for several [[speech synthesis]] ('''MacinTalk''') and [[speech recognition]] technologies developed by [[Apple Inc.]] In 1990, Apple invested a lot of work and money in speech recognition technology, hiring many researchers in the field. The result was "PlainTalk", released with the AV models in the [[Macintosh Quadra]] series from 1993. It was made a standard system component in [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7]].1.2, and has since been shipped on all [[PowerPC]] and some [[68k]] Macintoshes.

In 1990, Apple invested a lot of work and money in speech recognition technology, hiring many respected researchers in the field. The result was "PlainTalk", released with the AV [[Macintosh Quadra|Quadras]] of 1993. It was made a standard system component in [[System 7 (Macintosh)|System 7]].1.2, and has since been shipped on all [[PowerPC]] and even some 68K Macintoshes.


==Software==
==Software==
===Speech synthesis===
===Speech synthesis===
====Technology====
====Technology====
Apple's text-to-speech uses [[diphone]]s. Compared to other methods of synthesizing speech, it is not very resource-intensive, but there is a limit to how natural the synthesis can get. See the [[speech synthesis]] article for details. [[American English]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] versions have been available, but since the advent of Mac OS X, Apple has shipped only American English voices, relying on third-party suppliers such as [[Acapela Group]] to supply voices for other languages.
Apple's text-to-speech uses [[diphone]]s. Compared to other methods of synthesizing speech, it is not very resource-intensive, but limits how natural the [[speech synthesis]] can be. [[American English]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] versions have been available, but since the advent of Mac OS X, Apple has shipped only American English voices, relying on third-party suppliers such as [[Acapela Group]] to supply voices for other languages (in OS X 10.7, Apple licensed a lot of third-party voices and made them available for download within the Speech control panel).


An [[application programming interface]] known as the Speech Manager enables third-party developers to use speech synthesis in their applications. There are various control sequences that can be used to fine-tune the intonation and rhythm. The [[volume]], [[tone of voice|pitch]] and rate of the speech can be configured as well.
An [[application programming interface]] known as the Speech Manager enables third-party developers to use speech synthesis in their applications. There are various control sequences that can be used to fine-tune the intonation and rhythm. The [[loudness|volume]], [[tone of voice|pitch]] and rate of the speech can be configured as well, allowing for singing.


Input to the synthesiser can be controlled explicitly using a special [http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/SpeechSynthesisProgrammingGuide/Phonemes/Phonemes.html phoneme alphabet].
Input to the synthesizer can be controlled explicitly using a special [https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/SpeechSynthesisProgrammingGuide/Phonemes/Phonemes.html phoneme alphabet].


====Original MacInTalk====
====Original MacinTalk====
[[File:MacinTalk 1 demo.flac|thumb|MacinTalk 1 demo]]
The initial Macintosh text-to-speech engine, MacinTalk (named by Denise Chandler), was used by Apple in the 1984 introduction of the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] in which the computer announced itself to the world. While it was incorporated into the Macintosh's operating system, it was not officially supported by Apple (though programming information was made available through an Apple Technical Note). MacinTalk was developed by Joseph Katz and Mark Barton who later founded [http://www.text2speech.com SoftVoice, Inc.] which currently markets TTS engines for Windows, Linux and embedded platforms.
The initial Macintosh text-to-speech engine, MacinTalk (named by Denise Chandler), was used by Apple in the 1984 introduction of the [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]] in which the computer announced itself to the world (and poked fun at the weight of an IBM computer). While it was incorporated into the Macintosh's operating system, it was not officially supported by Apple (though programming information was made available through an Apple Technical Note<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ginger Jernigan |orig-date=April 1985 |author2=Jim Reekes |title=Technical Note #019: How To Produce Continuous Sound Without Clicking |url=https://spinsidemacintosh.neocities.org/tn405.html#tn019 |website=Apple Computer Inc. |access-date=18 September 2019 |date=June 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Jim Reekes |title=Technical Note PT22, a.k.a. #268: MacinTalk—The Final Chapter by MacinTalk—The Final Chapter |url=https://www.fenestrated.net/mirrors/Apple%20Technotes%20(As%20of%202002)/pt/pt_22.html |publisher=Apple Computer Inc. |access-date=18 September 2019 |date=February 1, 1990 |quote=The outcome of this work was MacinTalk. MacinTalk is a file that can be placed into the System Folder of an ordinary Macintosh computer and allow text to be transformed into speech for the introduction in 1984. It was felt to be an interesting piece of software, so Apple made it available to developers. Interfaces to MacinTalk were published and Apple Software Licensing allowed it to be included with developers' products. The original project was to get a speech driver for the Macintosh, but it did not include obtaining the source code to this driver. Apple only has exactly what it gives to developers: a file to be copied into the System Folder, and this file cannot be changed since Apple does not have the source code. [The original] MacinTalk works by using a VBL task to write data directly to the sound hardware of the Macintosh Plus and SE logic boards—a method which Apple does not support. It has only been through the efforts of the Sound Manager that software that writes directly to this sound hardware continues to work. MacinTalk continues to write to the hardware addresses of the Macintosh 128K logic board, but the Sound Manager and the Apple Sound Chip work together to allow programs like MacinTalk to continue working on newer machines. The Sound Manager and the Apple Sound Chip [ASC] were introduced with the Macintosh II. The Sound Manager watches the hardware addresses that used to be present on the Macintosh. When the Sound Manager detects activity at one of these addresses, it goes into a "compatibility" mode. In this mode, it routes the data to the real sound hardware, but while this is happening, proper Sound Manager code cannot run—even the Sound Manager's _SysBeep does not work when MacinTalk is in use. Furthermore, the compatibility mode cannot be turned off until the application requiring it calls _ExitToShell. Even an application that uses sound properly, with correct code, does not work if another application opens the MacinTalk driver. There are no solutions to this incompatibility.... In other words, if you find MacinTalk interesting and entertaining—go ahead and purchase it. Write some code and enjoy. However, be warned that MacinTalk should not be included as part of any commercial product. Apple Computer, Inc. provides no support for MacinTalk other than what is purchased with the package itself, and there will be no support in the future. Apple is committed to providing the developer community with an array of speech technologies integrated with the Sound Manager... Nothing more will be done [with the original MacinTalk]. It is a compatibility risk... causes the Sound Manager to fail... will not work with the new Sound Manager planned for System 7.0... may not work at all with future versions of the Macintosh hardware. ....#000: About Macintosh Technical Notes.... We place no restrictions on copying Technical Notes, with the exception that you cannot resell them, so read, enjoy, and share. We hope Macintosh Technical Notes will provide you with lots of valuable information while you are developing Macintosh hardware and software.}} [https://spinsidemacintosh.neocities.org/tn405.html#tn268 Alt URL]</ref>). MacinTalk was developed by Joseph Katz and Mark Barton who later founded [http://www.text2speech.com SoftVoice, Inc.] which currently markets TTS engines for Windows, Linux and embedded platforms. MacinTalk used direct access to the original Macintosh sound hardware and all attempts to license the source code by Apple to update it for newer Macs failed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.sys.mac/kuCYRhGENZw/yvG8AmQD1mYJ|title=Macintalk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.sys.mac.system/BOekHR6KGvg/-_OBQaXQAeMJ|title = MacinTalk}}</ref>


====MacInTalk 2====
====MacinTalk 2====
[[File:MacinTalk 2 demo.flac|thumb|MacinTalk 2 demo featuring the Mr. Hughes and Marvin voices]]
Eventually, Apple released a supported speech synthesis system, called MacInTalk 2. It supports any Macintosh running [[System 6|System Software 6.0.7]] or later. It remained the recommended version for slower machines even after the release of MacInTalk 3 and Pro.
Eventually, Apple released a supported speech synthesis system, called MacinTalk 2. It supports any Macintosh running [[System 6|System Software 6.0.7]] or later. It remained the recommended version for slower machines even after the release of MacinTalk 3 and Pro.


====MacInTalk 3, Pro====
====MacinTalk 3, Pro====
MacinTalk 3 introduced a great variety of voices. Apart from the standard adult voices 'Ralph', 'Fred' and 'Kathy', and children's voices like 'Princess' and 'Junior', various novelty voices were included, like 'Whisper', 'Zarvox' (a robot voice with melodic background sounds, with a similar voice called 'Trinoids' also included), 'Cellos' (a voice that sung its text to an [[Edvard Grieg]] [[In the Hall of the Mountain King|tune]], with similarly-singing voices like 'Good News', 'Bad News', 'Pipe Organ'), 'Albert' (a hoarse-sounding voice), 'Bells', 'Boing', 'Bubbles' etc.
MacinTalk 3 introduced a great variety of voices. Apart from the standard adult voices "Ralph", "Fred" and "Kathy", and children's voices like "Princess" (renamed "Superstar" in [[macOS Ventura]]) and "Junior", various novelty voices were included, like "Whisper", "Zarvox" (a robotic voice with melodic background sounds, with a similar voice called "Trinoids" also included), "Cellos" (a voice that sang its text to an [[Edvard Grieg]] [[In the Hall of the Mountain King|tune]], otherwise known as "In the Hall of the Mountain King" with similarly singing voices like "Good News", "Bad News", "Pipe Organ"), "Albert" (a hoarse-sounding voice), "Bells", "Boing", "Bubbles", and others.


Each of these voices came with its own example text, that would be spoken when one hit the 'Test' button in the Speech control panel. Some would just say their name, language and the version of MacinTalk they were introduced with. Others would say funny things, like 'I sure like being inside this fancy computer', 'I have a frog in my throat... No, I mean a real frog!', or 'The light you see at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of a fast approaching train'. These voices as well as their test texts are still in Mac OS X today.
Each of these voices came with its own example text, that would be spoken when one hit the "Test" button in the Speech control panel. Some would just say their name, language and the version of MacinTalk they were introduced with. Others would say [[humour|funny]] things, like "I sure like being inside this fancy computer", "I have a frog in my throat... No, I mean a real frog!", "We must rejoice in this morbid voice" (a [[parody]] of [[hymn#Western church|Western church hymnody with organ music]]), or "The light you see at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of a fast approaching train". These voices are still in [[macOS]] today. (A few of the voice names and their test texts were changed with [[macOS Ventura]], and then all their test texts were changed in [[macOS Sonoma]] to "Hello, my name is [voice name].")


With the increase in computer power that the [[CPU]]s in AV Macs and PowerPC based Macintoshes provided, Apple could afford to increase the quality of the synthesis. MacInTalk 3 required a 33 [[Megahertz|MHz]] [[Motorola 68030|68030 processor]] and MacInTalk Pro required a [[Motorola 68040|68040]] or better and at least 1 [[megabyte|MB]] of [[Random Access Memory|RAM]]. Each synthesizer supported a different set of voices.
With the increase in computing power that the AV Macs and PowerPC based Macintoshes provided, Apple could afford to increase the quality of the synthesis. MacinTalk 3 required a 33 [[Megahertz|MHz]] [[Motorola 68030|68030 processor]] and MacinTalk Pro required a [[Motorola 68040|68040]] or better and at least 1 [[megabyte|MB]] of [[Random Access Memory|RAM]]. Each synthesizer supported a different set of voices.


====Text-to-speech in Mac OS X====
====Text-to-speech in Mac OS X====
Text-to-speech has been a part of every [[Mac OS X]] version. The Victoria voice was enhanced significantly in [[Mac OS X v10.3]], and added as Vicki (Victoria was not removed). Its size was almost 20 times greater, because of the higher-quality diphone samples used.
Text-to-speech has been a part of every [[Mac OS X]] (later macOS) version. The Victoria voice was enhanced significantly in [[Mac OS X v10.3]], and added as Vicki (Victoria was not removed). Its size was almost 20 times greater, because of the higher-quality diphone samples used.


A new, much more natural-sounding voice, called "Alex" has been added to the Mac text-to-speech roster with the release of [[Mac OS X 10.5]] Leopard.<ref>http://www.apple.com/macosx/accessibility/</ref>
A new, much more natural-sounding voice, called "Alex" has been added to the Mac text-to-speech roster with the release of [[Mac OS X 10.5]] Leopard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/macosx/accessibility/ |title=Accessibility - OS X |publisher=Apple |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref>


With [[Mac OS X 10.7]] Lion, voices are available in additional U.S. English and other English accents, as well as 21 other languages.
With [[Mac OS X 10.7]] Lion, voices are available in additional U.S. English and other English accents, as well as 21 other languages.
<ref>http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is/accessibility.html</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is/accessibility.html |title=Apple - OS X Lion - Universal Access |access-date=July 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924130741/http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is/accessibility.html |archive-date=September 24, 2011 }}</ref>

The ''Speak selected text when key is pressed'' feature allows selected text from any application to be read via a key combination. From [[Mac OS X 10.1]] to [[Mac OS X 10.6]], the feature would copy the selected text to the clipboard and read it from there. From [[Mac OS X 10.7]] to [[Mac OS X 10.10]], a new implementation of the feature required software developers to implement a speech synthesis [[Application programming interface|API]] into their applications.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/SpeechSynthesisProgrammingGuide/Introduction/Introduction.html |title=Introduction to Speech Synthesis Programming Guide |website=Developer.apple.com |date=2006-09-05 |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/SpeechSynthesisProgrammingGuide/SpeechOverview/SpeechOverview.html |title=Speech Synthesis in OS X |website=Developer.apple.com |date=2006-09-05 |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref> This prevented the clipboard from being overwritten, but also meant that, for applications that did not use the API, the feature would not function as expected, reading the title bar rather than the selected text.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=74278 |title=[Solved&#93; Text to speech only reads the document title (View topic) • Apache OpenOffice Community Forum |website=Forum.openoffice.org |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/scottmartin/speak-selected-text-sublime |title=scottmartin/speak-selected-text-sublime: A plugin to use the Mac's text to speech from Sublime Text 2 |website=GitHub.com |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref>

In macOS Sierra 10.12, Siri was introduced for the Mac, however, the voice was not available as a System Voice, which meant that the Siri voices could be only used in Siri. Siri was made available as a System voice in macOS Catalina 10.15, so that it would work for any text. The Siri voices work in a completely different way and the {{code|say}} command remains unable to use Siri.

In the macOS Big Sur 11.3 update, gender references to all voices were removed, coinciding with the change in Siri voices on iOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3 and later, as part of Apple's efforts to promote gender inclusivity.


===Speech recognition===
===Speech recognition===
Apple hired many speech recognition researchers in 1990. After about a year, they demonstrated a technology codenamed Casper. It was released as part of the PlainTalk package in 1993. Although available for all PowerPC Macintoshes and AV 68k machines (it was one of the few applications that made use of the [[Digital signal processor|DSP]] in the Centris 660AV and Quadra 840AV), it was not part of the default system install prior to Mac OS X. The user had to do a custom installation of the OS to get speech recognition capabilities.
Apple hired many speech recognition researchers in 1990. After about a year, they demonstrated a technology codenamed Casper. It was released as part of the PlainTalk package in 1993. Although available for all PowerPC Macintoshes and AV 68k machines (it was one of the few applications that made use of the [[Digital signal processor|DSP]] in the [[Macintosh Quadra 660AV|Centris 660AV]] and [[Macintosh Quadra 840AV|Quadra 840AV]]), it was not part of the default system install prior to Mac OS X, requiring the user to perform a custom OS installation to get speech recognition capabilities.


Apple's speech recognition is voice-command oriented, i.e. not intended for dictation. It can be configured to listen for commands when a hot key is pressed, after being addressed with an activation phrase such as "Computer", or "Macintosh", or without prompt. A graphical status monitor, often in the form of an animated character, provides visual and textual feedback about listening status, available commands and actions taken. It can also communicate back with the user using speech synthesis.
In [[Mac OS X Lion|Mac OS X 10.7 Lion]] and earlier, Apple's speech recognition was voice-command oriented only, i.e. not intended for dictation. It can be configured to listen for commands when a hot key is pressed, after being addressed with an activation phrase such as "Computer", or "Macintosh", or without prompt. A graphical status monitor, often in the form of an animated character, provides visual and textual feedback about listening status, available commands and actions. It can also communicate back with the user using speech synthesis.


Early versions of the speech recognition provided full access to the menus. This support was later removed, since it required too many resources and made recognition less reliable, only to be re-added in Mac OS X 10.3 as a "universal access technology" called spoken user interface.
Early versions of the speech recognition provided full access to the menus. This support was later removed, since it required too many resources and made recognition less reliable, only to be re-added in Mac OS X 10.3 as a "universal access technology" called spoken user interface.


The user can launch items located in a special folder, called "Speakable Items", simply by speaking their name (while the system is in ''listening'' mode). Apple shipped a number of [[AppleScript]]s in this folder, but [[Alias (Mac OS)|aliases]], [[document]]s and [[folder]]s can be opened in the same way.
The user can launch items located in a special folder, called "Speakable Items", simply by speaking their name (while the system is in ''listening'' mode). Apple shipped a number of [[AppleScript]]s in this folder, but [[Alias (Mac OS)|aliases]], [[document]]s and [[folder (computing)|folders]] can be opened in the same way.


Additional functionality is provided by individual applications. An [[application programming interface]] lets programs define and modify an available [[vocabulary]]. For example, the [[Macintosh Finder|Finder]] provides a vocabulary for manipulating [[computer file|files]] and [[window (computing)|windows]].
Additional functionality is provided by individual applications. An [[application programming interface]] lets programs define and modify an available [[vocabulary]]. For example, the [[Macintosh Finder|Finder]] provides a vocabulary for manipulating [[computer file|files]] and [[window (computing)|windows]].


In [[OS X Mountain Lion|OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion]], Apple introduced "Dictation,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5449 |title=Use your voice to enter text on your Mac - Apple Support |website=Support.apple.com |date=2016-04-05 |access-date=2016-04-27}}</ref>" intended for general text. Originally, it required the sending of audio data to Apple servers for processing. In [[OS X Mavericks|OS X 10.9 Mavericks]], Apple added the option to download support for dictation without an Internet connection. As of OS X 10.9.3, eight languages (19 dialects) are supported.
== In popular culture ==
=== In music ===
The MacinTalk speech synthesis can be heard in a few songs:
* "Repeating Yesterday" from [[As I Lay Dying (band)|As I Lay Dying]]'s [[Shadows Are Security]] album used MacInTalk in the intro.
* "[[Satisfaction (Benny Benassi song)|Satisfaction]]" by [[Benny Benassi]], as well as other songs by him
* "Toby's Mac" by [[tobyMac]]
* [[Radiohead]]'s song [[Fitter Happier]] from the [[OK Computer]] album (and featured in the background of [[Paranoid Android]] from the same album)
* [[Fall Out Boy]] used MacInTalk at the beginning of [[Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy]] (Millennium Version) and at the end of the last track and bonus tracks on their [[Infinity on High]] album
* The French band [[Air (French band)|Air]] uses several Macintosh voices in their track "How Does it Make You Feel"
* [[Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1]] by [[The Flaming Lips]] features the "Zarvox" voice
* Many [[Aphex Twin]] tracks including [[Come to Daddy|Funny Little Man]] and [[...I Care Because You Do|Cow Cud Is a Twin]] also feature PlainTalk
* The song [[John Orr the Arsonist]] by [[And Then There Were None]] features a short monologue using this voice
* "The Vic-E Interpretation - Interlude" from [[TLC (band)|TLC]]'s album ''Fanmail'' features Victoria comparing and contrasting club culture in the USA and Japan.
* The Intro from [[OutKast]]'s [[Stankonia]] album features the "Bells" voice
* The song "Pomme-C" by French singer [[Calogero]] on the album [[Pomme-C]] features a short monologue at the very beginning using voice Vicki
* "DWYL" by [[Phil Joel]]
* The song "[[Man That You Fear]]" by [[Marilyn Manson]] ends with the MacInTalk voices repeating, "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed". MacInTalk voices are used again in the music video<ref>{{cite web|title=Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar Official Music Video|work=Antichrist Superstar Official Music Video|accessdate=15 August 2011|url=http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/C1gaD5eFzbw|location=NME.com|language=English}}</ref> and live performances of "[[Antichrist Superstar (song)|Antichrist Superstar]]". The MacInTalk voices repeat "You might as well kill yourself - you're already dead" at the end of the song.
* Most of [[Mr Oizo]]'s [[Transsexual (EP)|Transsexual]] EP and [[Lambs Anger]] album contains MacInTalk voices
* Korea Idol [[T-ara]]'s song Bo Peep Bo Peep from the [[Absolute First Album]] introduction part 'Don't lose your temper so quickly'
* The [[El-P]] song 'Stepfather Factory', from the 2002 album [[Fantastic Damage]], ends with MacInTalk voices repeating, "Why are you making me hurt you? I love you".
* EBM band Apoptygma Bezerk used MacInTalk Kathy's voice in "Kathy's Song (Come Lie Next To Me)". The VNV Nation Remix also uses the Victoria voice
* In [[Electronic dance music|EDM]] producer [[Skrillex]]'s track titled "I Wish You All The Luck Of The World", MacInTalk Alex's voice can be heard repeating "David, I wish you all the luck in the world" several times in various pitches.
* [[Rob Playford|Rob]] & [[Goldie]]'s 1997 track "The Shadow (The Process Mix by Rick Smith for [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]])" makes extensive use of the Victoria voice, reading a dictionary definition of "shadow" and a poem from the book ''Process; A [[Tomato (company)|Tomato]] Project''.

=== In film ===
A combination of the "Ralph" and "Zarvox" voices serve as the voice of the computerized [[autopilot]], AUTO, in the 2008 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]]·[[Pixar]] film ''[[WALL-E]]''. "MacInTalk" is credited as the voice of Auto in the film's end credits.<ref name=aicn>{{cite news|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37209|author=Steve "Capone" Prokopy|title=Andrew Stanton Gives Up the Goods on WALL-E and JOHN CARTER to Capone!|work=[[Ain't It Cool News]]|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2008-11-22}}</ref>

===In television===
MacinTalk was used to perform the part of the wheelchair-using [[motor neurone disease]] patient with a [[voice synthesizer]] in the [[animated]] ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "[[Ready, Willing and Disabled]]", who would later appear again in "[[Brian the Bachelor]]" and "[[Brian Goes Back to College]]". It was furthermore used in "[[Peterotica]]", when Stewie plays with "the speech function on his [[Macintosh]]", Using [[Talking Moose]] software, Stewie gets his laptop to say "Stewie is cool." & also in "[[April in Quahog]]" where MacinTalk Fred voices [[Stephen Hawking]]. It was also used to introduce episodes on the anime [[Serial Experiments Lain]]. In the ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' episodes "TransWarped", "Decepticon Air" and "This is Why I Hate Machines", the Autobot [[Perceptor#Transformers Animated|Perceptor]]'s voice was performed via MacinTalk speech generation, using the "Fred" voice. It was also used in the short-lived cartoon ''[[Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?]]'' as the voice of Robot Jones' father, Dad Unit, and Robot in the first season. It was also used as the voice for the Red vs. Blue character, the lying A.I Gary/Gamma. Junior was voicing Robot Jones in the 2000 episode of [[What-a-Cartoon|The Cartoon Cartoon Show]], [[Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?]].

===In video games===
* MacinTalk was used in the game [[No More Heroes (video game)|No More Heroes]]. Before each boss fight, the "Whisper" voice would announce the current boss's name.
* The video game [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] uses "Vicki" as the voice of the DJ of the in-game radio station "[[Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack#The Journey|The Journey]]".
* The 2009 video game [[Machinarium]] features several Macintalk voices in its ambient music.
* The [[3DO]] version of [[Star Control 2]] used "Bruce" as the voice of the Slylandro Probe. The game credits the voice of the Probe as [[Quadra 840AV|840AV]]. "Agnes" was also used as the voice of the Captain's ship's computer, heard on the first encounter with the Orz race.
* The 1996 video game Safecracker utilizes "Victoria" in two of the advanced safes.
* The Japanese version of [[Sonic CD]] uses MacInTalk voices in the background music of Metallic Madness' Bad Future stages.


==Hardware==
==Hardware==
Apple produced two microphones under the product name "Apple PlainTalk Microphone". {{Citation needed|reason=Apple has records of one Apple PlainTalk Microphone only, which has the half-oval shape and was introduced in 1993.|date=August 2023}} The first shipped inclusive with Macintosh LC and early Performa models, and was circular in appearance. It was designed to sit in a holder attached to the side of a [[computer display|CRT display]], and be lifted out and held by the mouth when talking.{{Citation needed|reason=This microphone, known as the Apple Omnidirectional Microphone, is only known to have the industry-standard 3.5 mm mic-in jack. No version of it with the proprietary extended 3.5 mm jack is known to exist.|date=August 2023}} The second model was introduced alongside the AV models in the [[Macintosh Quadra]] series in 1993 but was also sold separately. It was designed to be positioned on top of the screen and to be sensitive to sound from the front. Both models had a longer connector, the tip of which was used to provide the microphone with [[Biasing#Microphones|bias voltage]].
Apple produced a [[microphone]] called "Apple PlainTalk Microphone". It was introduced alongside the AV-enabled [[Macintosh Quadra|Quadras]] in 1993 but was also sold separately. It had a longer connector, and the tip was used to provide it with extra power. It was designed to be positioned on top of the [[computer display|screen]] and to be sensitive to sound from the front.

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== References ==


⚫
==References==
<references/>
{{Reflist|1}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Intro_Demo.txt&topic=Marketing&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium Folklore.org: The Original Macintosh, about the Macintosh introduction]
* [http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Intro_Demo.txt&topic=Marketing&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium Folklore.org: The Original Macintosh, about the Macintosh introduction]
* API Documentation:
*[http://developer.apple.com/ue/speech/ Apple speech documentation for developers]
** 10.14+ frameworks: [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/speech Speech] (Recognition), [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/speech_synthesis Speech Synthesis] (Part of AVFoundation)
** Cocoa API: [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsspeechsynthesizer NSSpeechSynthesizer] and [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsspeechrecognizer NSSpeechRecognizer]
** Carbon API (ApplicationServices): [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/applicationservices/speech_synthesis_manager Speech Synthesis Manager] (the old diphone-based system with pitch control used by {{code|say}})
* {{IMDb name|id=3050831|name=MacinTalk}}
* {{IMDb name|id=3050831|name=MacinTalk}}
* [https://www.fenestrated.net/mirrors/Apple%20Technotes%20(As%20of%202002)/pt/pt_22.html Technote TN 22 - MacinTalk - The Final Chapter]
{{Speech synthesis}}


[[Category:Mac OS-only software made by Apple Inc.]]
[[Category:Classic Mac OS-only software made by Apple Inc.]]
[[Category:Speech synthesis]]
[[Category:Speech synthesis software]]
[[Category:1984 introductions]]
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1984]]

Latest revision as of 20:59, 12 July 2024

PlainTalk is the collective name for several speech synthesis (MacinTalk) and speech recognition technologies developed by Apple Inc. In 1990, Apple invested a lot of work and money in speech recognition technology, hiring many researchers in the field. The result was "PlainTalk", released with the AV models in the Macintosh Quadra series from 1993. It was made a standard system component in System 7.1.2, and has since been shipped on all PowerPC and some 68k Macintoshes.

Software

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Speech synthesis

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Technology

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Apple's text-to-speech uses diphones. Compared to other methods of synthesizing speech, it is not very resource-intensive, but limits how natural the speech synthesis can be. American English and Spanish versions have been available, but since the advent of Mac OS X, Apple has shipped only American English voices, relying on third-party suppliers such as Acapela Group to supply voices for other languages (in OS X 10.7, Apple licensed a lot of third-party voices and made them available for download within the Speech control panel).

An application programming interface known as the Speech Manager enables third-party developers to use speech synthesis in their applications. There are various control sequences that can be used to fine-tune the intonation and rhythm. The volume, pitch and rate of the speech can be configured as well, allowing for singing.

Input to the synthesizer can be controlled explicitly using a special phoneme alphabet.

Original MacinTalk

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MacinTalk 1 demo

The initial Macintosh text-to-speech engine, MacinTalk (named by Denise Chandler), was used by Apple in the 1984 introduction of the Macintosh in which the computer announced itself to the world (and poked fun at the weight of an IBM computer). While it was incorporated into the Macintosh's operating system, it was not officially supported by Apple (though programming information was made available through an Apple Technical Note[1][2]). MacinTalk was developed by Joseph Katz and Mark Barton who later founded SoftVoice, Inc. which currently markets TTS engines for Windows, Linux and embedded platforms. MacinTalk used direct access to the original Macintosh sound hardware and all attempts to license the source code by Apple to update it for newer Macs failed.[3][4]

MacinTalk 2

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MacinTalk 2 demo featuring the Mr. Hughes and Marvin voices

Eventually, Apple released a supported speech synthesis system, called MacinTalk 2. It supports any Macintosh running System Software 6.0.7 or later. It remained the recommended version for slower machines even after the release of MacinTalk 3 and Pro.

MacinTalk 3, Pro

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MacinTalk 3 introduced a great variety of voices. Apart from the standard adult voices "Ralph", "Fred" and "Kathy", and children's voices like "Princess" (renamed "Superstar" in macOS Ventura) and "Junior", various novelty voices were included, like "Whisper", "Zarvox" (a robotic voice with melodic background sounds, with a similar voice called "Trinoids" also included), "Cellos" (a voice that sang its text to an Edvard Grieg tune, otherwise known as "In the Hall of the Mountain King" with similarly singing voices like "Good News", "Bad News", "Pipe Organ"), "Albert" (a hoarse-sounding voice), "Bells", "Boing", "Bubbles", and others.

Each of these voices came with its own example text, that would be spoken when one hit the "Test" button in the Speech control panel. Some would just say their name, language and the version of MacinTalk they were introduced with. Others would say funny things, like "I sure like being inside this fancy computer", "I have a frog in my throat... No, I mean a real frog!", "We must rejoice in this morbid voice" (a parody of Western church hymnody with organ music), or "The light you see at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of a fast approaching train". These voices are still in macOS today. (A few of the voice names and their test texts were changed with macOS Ventura, and then all their test texts were changed in macOS Sonoma to "Hello, my name is [voice name].")

With the increase in computing power that the AV Macs and PowerPC based Macintoshes provided, Apple could afford to increase the quality of the synthesis. MacinTalk 3 required a 33 MHz 68030 processor and MacinTalk Pro required a 68040 or better and at least 1 MB of RAM. Each synthesizer supported a different set of voices.

Text-to-speech in Mac OS X

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Text-to-speech has been a part of every Mac OS X (later macOS) version. The Victoria voice was enhanced significantly in Mac OS X v10.3, and added as Vicki (Victoria was not removed). Its size was almost 20 times greater, because of the higher-quality diphone samples used.

A new, much more natural-sounding voice, called "Alex" has been added to the Mac text-to-speech roster with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.[5]

With Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, voices are available in additional U.S. English and other English accents, as well as 21 other languages. [6]

The Speak selected text when key is pressed feature allows selected text from any application to be read via a key combination. From Mac OS X 10.1 to Mac OS X 10.6, the feature would copy the selected text to the clipboard and read it from there. From Mac OS X 10.7 to Mac OS X 10.10, a new implementation of the feature required software developers to implement a speech synthesis API into their applications.[7][8] This prevented the clipboard from being overwritten, but also meant that, for applications that did not use the API, the feature would not function as expected, reading the title bar rather than the selected text.[9][10]

In macOS Sierra 10.12, Siri was introduced for the Mac, however, the voice was not available as a System Voice, which meant that the Siri voices could be only used in Siri. Siri was made available as a System voice in macOS Catalina 10.15, so that it would work for any text. The Siri voices work in a completely different way and the say command remains unable to use Siri.

In the macOS Big Sur 11.3 update, gender references to all voices were removed, coinciding with the change in Siri voices on iOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3 and later, as part of Apple's efforts to promote gender inclusivity.

Speech recognition

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Apple hired many speech recognition researchers in 1990. After about a year, they demonstrated a technology codenamed Casper. It was released as part of the PlainTalk package in 1993. Although available for all PowerPC Macintoshes and AV 68k machines (it was one of the few applications that made use of the DSP in the Centris 660AV and Quadra 840AV), it was not part of the default system install prior to Mac OS X, requiring the user to perform a custom OS installation to get speech recognition capabilities.

In Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and earlier, Apple's speech recognition was voice-command oriented only, i.e. not intended for dictation. It can be configured to listen for commands when a hot key is pressed, after being addressed with an activation phrase such as "Computer", or "Macintosh", or without prompt. A graphical status monitor, often in the form of an animated character, provides visual and textual feedback about listening status, available commands and actions. It can also communicate back with the user using speech synthesis.

Early versions of the speech recognition provided full access to the menus. This support was later removed, since it required too many resources and made recognition less reliable, only to be re-added in Mac OS X 10.3 as a "universal access technology" called spoken user interface.

The user can launch items located in a special folder, called "Speakable Items", simply by speaking their name (while the system is in listening mode). Apple shipped a number of AppleScripts in this folder, but aliases, documents and folders can be opened in the same way.

Additional functionality is provided by individual applications. An application programming interface lets programs define and modify an available vocabulary. For example, the Finder provides a vocabulary for manipulating files and windows.

In OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Apple introduced "Dictation,[11]" intended for general text. Originally, it required the sending of audio data to Apple servers for processing. In OS X 10.9 Mavericks, Apple added the option to download support for dictation without an Internet connection. As of OS X 10.9.3, eight languages (19 dialects) are supported.

Hardware

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Apple produced two microphones under the product name "Apple PlainTalk Microphone". [citation needed] The first shipped inclusive with Macintosh LC and early Performa models, and was circular in appearance. It was designed to sit in a holder attached to the side of a CRT display, and be lifted out and held by the mouth when talking.[citation needed] The second model was introduced alongside the AV models in the Macintosh Quadra series in 1993 but was also sold separately. It was designed to be positioned on top of the screen and to be sensitive to sound from the front. Both models had a longer connector, the tip of which was used to provide the microphone with bias voltage.

References

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  1. ^ Ginger Jernigan; Jim Reekes (June 1989) [April 1985]. "Technical Note #019: How To Produce Continuous Sound Without Clicking". Apple Computer Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  2. ^ Jim Reekes (February 1, 1990). "Technical Note PT22, a.k.a. #268: MacinTalk—The Final Chapter by MacinTalk—The Final Chapter". Apple Computer Inc. Retrieved 18 September 2019. The outcome of this work was MacinTalk. MacinTalk is a file that can be placed into the System Folder of an ordinary Macintosh computer and allow text to be transformed into speech for the introduction in 1984. It was felt to be an interesting piece of software, so Apple made it available to developers. Interfaces to MacinTalk were published and Apple Software Licensing allowed it to be included with developers' products. The original project was to get a speech driver for the Macintosh, but it did not include obtaining the source code to this driver. Apple only has exactly what it gives to developers: a file to be copied into the System Folder, and this file cannot be changed since Apple does not have the source code. [The original] MacinTalk works by using a VBL task to write data directly to the sound hardware of the Macintosh Plus and SE logic boards—a method which Apple does not support. It has only been through the efforts of the Sound Manager that software that writes directly to this sound hardware continues to work. MacinTalk continues to write to the hardware addresses of the Macintosh 128K logic board, but the Sound Manager and the Apple Sound Chip work together to allow programs like MacinTalk to continue working on newer machines. The Sound Manager and the Apple Sound Chip [ASC] were introduced with the Macintosh II. The Sound Manager watches the hardware addresses that used to be present on the Macintosh. When the Sound Manager detects activity at one of these addresses, it goes into a "compatibility" mode. In this mode, it routes the data to the real sound hardware, but while this is happening, proper Sound Manager code cannot run—even the Sound Manager's _SysBeep does not work when MacinTalk is in use. Furthermore, the compatibility mode cannot be turned off until the application requiring it calls _ExitToShell. Even an application that uses sound properly, with correct code, does not work if another application opens the MacinTalk driver. There are no solutions to this incompatibility.... In other words, if you find MacinTalk interesting and entertaining—go ahead and purchase it. Write some code and enjoy. However, be warned that MacinTalk should not be included as part of any commercial product. Apple Computer, Inc. provides no support for MacinTalk other than what is purchased with the package itself, and there will be no support in the future. Apple is committed to providing the developer community with an array of speech technologies integrated with the Sound Manager... Nothing more will be done [with the original MacinTalk]. It is a compatibility risk... causes the Sound Manager to fail... will not work with the new Sound Manager planned for System 7.0... may not work at all with future versions of the Macintosh hardware. ....#000: About Macintosh Technical Notes.... We place no restrictions on copying Technical Notes, with the exception that you cannot resell them, so read, enjoy, and share. We hope Macintosh Technical Notes will provide you with lots of valuable information while you are developing Macintosh hardware and software. Alt URL
  3. ^ "Macintalk".
  4. ^ "MacinTalk".
  5. ^ "Accessibility - OS X". Apple. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  6. ^ "Apple - OS X Lion - Universal Access". Archived from the original on September 24, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  7. ^ "Introduction to Speech Synthesis Programming Guide". Developer.apple.com. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  8. ^ "Speech Synthesis in OS X". Developer.apple.com. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  9. ^ "[Solved] Text to speech only reads the document title (View topic) • Apache OpenOffice Community Forum". Forum.openoffice.org. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  10. ^ "scottmartin/speak-selected-text-sublime: A plugin to use the Mac's text to speech from Sublime Text 2". GitHub.com. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
  11. ^ "Use your voice to enter text on your Mac - Apple Support". Support.apple.com. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2016-04-27.
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