Apple has recently unveiled an emotive advertisement highlighting its innovative Personal Voice feature, now accessible on iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices. This cutting-edge functionality, introduced in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, is designed for individuals at risk of losing their speech. It enables them to create a synthesized voice, remarkably resembling their own, to maintain their communication abilities.
Personal Voice is seamlessly integrated with another accessibility feature, Live Speech. This combination offers a robust communication solution, allowing users to type their thoughts and have them spoken out loud. This is particularly useful in various scenarios, including in-person interactions, phone calls, and even during FaceTime video chats.
The effectiveness and emotional impact of Personal Voice are vividly illustrated in Apple’s video, titled “The Lost Voice”. In this video, Tristram Ingham, a physician and disability advocate, utilizes Personal Voice and Live Speech to narrate a bedtime story to a child. Further insights into Ingham’s life and experiences are provided in a dedicated Apple Stories article.
Setting up a Personal Voice involves a straightforward process where users are prompted to read aloud a series of random texts until 15 minutes of audio is captured. This feature, found under the Accessibility section in the Settings app, is currently available exclusively in English.
Apple emphasizes that Personal Voice uses on-device machine learning, ensuring user privacy and security.