Roger Ebert Gets His Voice Back

via PopSciRoger Ebert lost the ability to speak after cancer surgeries claimed a portion of his jaw and larynx, costing him his famous voice. Now, after nearly four years of being unable to speak, Roger Ebert will be able to speak in his own voice once again. Sorta.

Thanks to text to speech, old DVD commentary, and audio synthesizing technology, Roger Ebert may only be able to speak through his computer, but at least it'll sound like his voice. Since the English language only utilizes about 45 difference sounds, computerized voice specialists CereProc were able to synthesize the sound of Roger's voice from commentary on films like Citizen Kane. Now, rather than hearing the computerized voice, Alex, on his Mac, when Roger hits 'Enter', the text is read aloud in his own voice. Of course, no one will mistake it for the real thing, but it was enough to bring his wife to tears.

The voice debuted on Oprah this week. Check out the video over at Gizmodo.