Startup works to create mechanized voices that sound human
Voicery is among startups getting attention, along with Lytro’s photo work, Keep Truckin’s software
Listening to an audio book isn’t as fun when it’s read by a machine’s monotone voice. San Francisco startup Voicery is working to improve that experience.
The startup, founded by former Baidu research scientist Andrew Gibiansky and former Palantir engineering lead Bobby Ullman, works to create mechanized voices that sound more like humans. Voicery — whose name blends voice and sorcery — uses data from more than 100 voices and feeds it into its neural networks, training the machines to sound more human, Ullman said. The network can imitate the sounds from a person if exposed to just three hours of that person’s voice, he added.
The company is seeking partnerships with other businesses to provide a better experience for people listening to audio books, news or other content. It plans to make its technology available for developers for a fee. Voicery’s founders received $120,000 through their participation in Y Combinator. The company gave a presentation last month at Y Combinator’s Demo Day, which may be why it is trending on Crunchbase.
Already, hundreds of people have taken a quiz on Voicery’s website that asks if text is read
by a human or a machine.
The point, though, is not so that you can never tell a difference, Ullman said. Rather, he hopes that Voicery’s technology “is enjoyable, sometimes even so enjoyable that you will mistake a machine for a human.”
Deal of the week
Camera manufacturer Lytro is winding down operations, and some of its staff is joining Google. News site TechCrunch reports the deal — characterized by some as a hiring acquisition — was worth an estimated $25 million to $40 million. What it does: Lytro was known for selling cameras that used light field technology, capturing the rays of light around a photo subject and allowing users to refocus photos after they are taken. Lytro later shifted to selling a camera rig to capture virtual reality footage. Why it matters: The company was hurt by more people taking photos on smartphones instead of cameras, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy. Lytro’s staff could help Google with robotics or self-driving cars so that machines can have a better understanding of dimension, Moorhead said. Funding: $215.8 million, according to Crunchbase.
Flush with cash
KeepTruckin makes software and hardware that allows companies to monitor truck drivers on the road. The company said it recently raised $50 million, which will go toward hiring and investing in product development.
KeepTruckin says it will expand staff in its San Francisco headquarters from about 120 people to more than 300 by year’s end. It will also add workers in Nashville and Buffalo, N.Y., as well as in Pakistan and the Philippines. Funding: $78.3 million San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Trisha Thadani contributed to this report.