Hydrocare Ad on 202: Cyborg Invasion Imminent?

[Chigworthy]

Listening to the latest scam/con commercial on 202 about the mystical pipe clip on device, complete with recordings of someone taking a swollen-prostate piss, I started focusing on the narrator's voice. There are some weird enunciations and clipping noises that make me wonder if it is a computer-generated voice. Is there some high-tech software that advertisers can use so they don't have to pay a voice-actor? I remember making the voice generator on my Atari ST say bad words for hours when I was a kid, so I'm kind of an expert. Or have I been listening to Coast To Coast too much?

[StanUpshaw]

I think the AT&T Natural Voices are about the best they can do at the moment. They're pretty good, but you can still tell it's not a real voice.

For example:
<object width="470" height="55"> <param name="movie" value="http://ecdn3.hark.com/swfs/player.swf?1292974223"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="autoplay=false&dataPath=http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt.json"></param> <embed src="http://ecdn3.hark.com/swfs/player.swf?1292974223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="autoplay=false&dataPath=http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt.json" width="470" height="55"></embed> </object> <strong style="font-size: 10px; color: #aaa; display: block;"> Listen to <a href="http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt-chigworthy">Chigworthy??</a> </strong>

[Chigworthy]

I think the AT&T Natural Voices are about the best they can do at the moment. They're pretty good, but you can still tell it's not a real voice.

For example:
<object width="470" height="55"> <param name="movie" value="http://ecdn3.hark.com/swfs/player.swf?1292974223"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="autoplay=false&dataPath=http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt.json"></param> <embed src="http://ecdn3.hark.com/swfs/player.swf?1292974223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="autoplay=false&dataPath=http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt.json" width="470" height="55"></embed> </object> <strong style="font-size: 10px; color: #aaa; display: block;"> Listen to <a href="http://www.hark.com/clips/zdhlkrdxxt-chigworthy">Chigworthy??</a> </strong>

Dammit, I knew that was you!