Ebert’s Voice Gets A Second Chance
When you think of film critics, one of the names that should come to your mind is Roger Ebert. Whether or not you’ve ever agreed with his movie reviews, it is undeniable that his voice has greatly influenced public opinion of film and the motion picture industry for decades. However, Mr. Ebert has lost regular use of his ability to speak verbally due to his struggle with papillary thyroid cancer in recent years. Due to his affliction, part of his jaw had to be removed. He has used computer voice synthesizers since then but none of them could match his voice.
Fortunately for the well-known film critic, a Scottish company named CereProc has come forward with a way to restore the use of his voice. This company designs voice synthesizers that utilizes a variety of national and international accents. CereProc has previously used their technology to duplicate the speech patterns of one former U.S. President’s unique voice. This former president was George W. Bush himself. Now CereProc has been able to do the same with Roger Ebert’s voice by using audio samples from some of his DVD commentaries.
CereProc considers this latest synthesizer simulating Ebert’s voice to be their boldest development thus far. After receiving the device, Mr. Ebert was given the opportunity to try it out on Oprah’s talk show on Tuesday while in the company of his wife. During the new synthesizer demonstration, Ebert took some time to make his own predictions on the Oscars.
Personally, I’m very impressed with CereProc’s new voice synthesizer and I think it is a noble gesture that this company has used it to give Roger Ebert a second chance to use his voice. This could be considered a new beginning for Mr. Ebert being able to communicate verbally and continuing his career, thanks to this new device.
Tags: CereProc, Ebert's Voice, Roger Ebert
