Kevin
March 23, 2021
Common Questions
Do you know what the meaning of the abbreviation TTS is? This guide will give you all of the knowledge you need on the acronym TTS, including its meaning, usage, example sentences, and more!
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According to Search Mobile Computing, the acronym TTS stands for “text to speech.” Text to speech is a type of assistive technology in which a mobile phone or other device can read typed text out loud. This can be useful for people who are visually impaired, or to assist those who struggle with reading. Text to speech can help people who are learning to read match sounds to words, and it can also help people to focus on what they are reading as they follow along, according to Understood. This can also be useful for editors who are reading books or articles – sometimes the brain can trick us into thinking something is correct, but when we hear it aloud, we recognize typos or grammatical errors.
According to The Free Dictionary and Acronym Finder, the acronym TTS can also stand for a plethora of other things, however these meanings may be less common. One should always exercise caution when using an acronym that has multiple meanings and ensure their intent is clear. Make sure that the other person knows that the acronym you are using stands for before sending, otherwise they may be very confused.
Text to speech used a computer generated voice that can be sped up or down. This computer generated voice can have many different qualities, including accent, gender, or age. Many text to speech tools highlight the words as they are being read aloud, which can help early readers identify words.
According to Explain That Stuff, the first mechanical speaking machine was invented by Austro-Hungarian inventor Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1769. He used bellows and bagpipe components to try and produce a human sounding voice. People tried to improve upon this base invention until 1928, when Homer W. Dudley invented the Voder, which was an electronic speech synthesizer that was operated via a keyboard. In 1953, an American scientist named Walter Lawrence created PAT, a format synthesizer that was able to talk by combining formant frequencies. The most famous text to speech software, Siri, was released in 2011 by Apple on its iPhone smartphone.
The acronym TTS can be used to describe anything that is performing a text to speech function. In this example, Natalie is both listening to and reading a book on her eReader device. Lucy, her roommate, walks into her room.
Lucy: What are you doing?
Natalie: Reading.
Lucy: What was that noise?
Natalie: I like to have the TTS on while I read, it helps me focus. OTherwise I just start thinking about other stuff and before you know it, I’ve read a whole chapter but haven’t absorbed any of it. Listening to it as I go really helps!
Lucy: Wow, that’s such a great idea! I should do that for some of the articles I have to read for school. I can never seem to focus on those.
Natalie: You should! There’s a ton of apps out there that can do it for you – you can even choose the voice!
Lucy: I am absolutely going to have a hot British guy read me these boring chemistry problems.
Overall, the acronym TTS most commonly stands for text to speech. While the acronym has a plethora of other meanings, TTS is the most popular. TTS is a type of software that allows smartphones, computers, tablets, and other devices to read typed text aloud. This can be useful for people who are visually impaired, learning to read, have dyslexia, or struggle to focus while reading, as well as editors who are looking to catch typos or grammatical errors.
