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"Human, All Too Human": NOAA Weather Radio and the Emotional Impact of Synthetic Voices

Published: 23 April 2020 Publication History

Abstract

The integration of text-to-speech into an open technology stack for low-power FM community radio stations is an opportunity to automate laborious processes and increase accessibility to information in remote communities. However, there are open questions as to the perceived contrast of synthetic voices with the local and intimate format of community radio. This paper presents an exploratory focus group on the topic, followed by a thematic analysis of public comments on YouTube videos of the synthetic voices used for broadcasting by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio. We find that despite observed reservations about the suitability of TTS for radio, there is significant evidence of anthropomorphism, nostalgia and emotional connection in relation to these voices. Additionally, introduction of a more "human sounding" synthetic voice elicited significant negative feedback. We identify pronunciation, speed, suitability to content and acknowledgment of limitations as more relevant factors in listeners' stated sense of connection.

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References

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    April 2020
    10688 pages
    ISBN:9781450367080
    DOI:10.1145/3313831
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    Published: 23 April 2020

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    Author Tags

    1. anthropomorphism
    2. noaa weather radio
    3. synthetic speech
    4. text-to-speech
    5. uncanny valley

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    • (2023)Beyond Self-diagnosis: How a Chatbot-based Symptom Checker Should RespondACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/358995930:4(1-44)Online publication date: 11-Sep-2023
    • (2023)A Literature Review of Video-Sharing Platform Research in HCIProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581107(1-20)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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