Multi-modal Mathematics: Conveying Math Using Synthetic Speech and Speech Recognition

Over the past decade, the notion of multi-modal access to technology has moved from the realms of science fiction to reality. It is not now unthinkable to communicate with a machine using voice recognition software, and to have the computers’ response spoken in a voice comparable in quality to a human.This paper outlines methodologies for the verbal presentation of mathematical material to a user using prosodically enhanced synthetic speech. We will describe methodologies for generating a prosodic model of the “equation space”.