General Instrument SP0256
The Allophone Based Speech Processor GI-SPO256-AL2 is an NMOS LSI chip manufactured by General Instrument in the early 1980s, able to model the human vocal tract by a software programmable digital filter, creating a digital output converted into an analog signal through an external low pass filter. The SPO256-AL2 stores 59 allophones of English language and five pauses in its internal 16 KiB ROM. However, for concatenating allophones into words, the SPO256-AL2 needs the control of an external microprocessor.[1]
Apart from home brew kits for speech synthesis published in specialized magazines for microcomputers as the VIC-20,[2] the SPO256-AL2 was used in 1982 in the Intellivoice, "talking" expansion module of the Intellivision video game. The module production, however, was discontinued in 1983 due to sluggish sales. Only five games were launched with support to this device.[3]
References
- ^ RadioShack. "SPO256 Narrator Speech Processor" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ^ "VIC-20 Talk-Back (Maplin GB17T LK00A)". Retro Computers. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ^ Steven A. Orth (2004-10-04). "IntelliVoice Software". Retrieved 2011-07-30.
External links
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