Audio from the Author: Part I of III

Colmcille Press and North West Regional College have partnered to trial new voice replication technology*, designed to help authors and independent publishers create professional audiobooks quickly and affordably. For the first of three pilots, produced by Aaron McKeever, Consultant at NWRC's XR Hub, author Felicity McCall reads the title story from her new short-story collection What We Did on Our Holidays.

• Voice replication software uses deep-learning algorithms and neural networks to extract unique acoustic features—such as pitch, timbre, and prosody—from a target speaker's audio data to synthesise a high-fidelity digital replica capable of generating new speech with the original speaker's vocal identity. It has the potential to enable the automated production of personalised audiobooks, so allowing authors to narrate their own digital works indefinitely. Other applications include preserving a parent's vocal presence for reading to children, and streamlining cost-effective, high-volume audio content creation for publishers.