Project of the Month, February 2011

The eGuideDog project develops free software for the blind. It includes a browser, a text-to-speech engine, screen reader and any other software that can help the blind to access digital information.

The project not only writes software itself but also helps to develop other related projects. For example, a few years ago there was no open-source Chinese TTS (text to speech) system. I found Jonathan Duddington’s eSpeak was a good start for a new language, so I contributed the Cantonese voice for eSpeak. Then Kyle Wang and Silas S. Brown helped to contribute the Mandarin voice. Another case is that I read about Jeffrey P. Bigham’s WebAnywhere web-based screen reader from an article. Then I thought it was a great technology and helped to develop it for other languages. I also deployed a WebAnywhere server to provide free service to the public inside China.

One of the most important parts of the project is Ekho TTS, which generates more natural Chinese voice than eSpeak. It can be a base for other software like screen readers.

Why and how did you get started?

When I was about to write my dissertation for my Master’s degree, I didn’t want too spend much time on something only for the degree.I I often thought about how I could apply my knowledge to benefit society so I decided to start this project. I started from a text browser for the blind, which also resulted in my dissertation. The browser was not successful, though, so I turned to developing other software.

The project was registered on December 12, 2006 on SourceForge. However, I had started to do research about half a year before that.

Who is the software’s intended audience?

It is for both developers and blind users. The TTS engine is basic software for applications with voice. WebSpeech is a Javascript library for web developers to write pages with voice. I also released two games based on WebSpeech for the blind. WebAnywhere, which we help Jeffrey P. Bigham develop, is for blind users to access websites without a desktop screen reader, and Gradint is a blind-friendly language learning system.

What are a couple of notable examples of how people are using your software?

We contributed to the Chinese voices of eSpeak, which is a widely-used multilingual speech program: it is used by Google Translator and it is the default screen reader on Ubuntu Linux and the One Laptop Per Child project. Some people like to use Ekho TTS to read articles, and a student used Ekho and WebSpeech to develop an interesting web-based robot that can talk and provide information to humans.

What are the system requirements for your software, and what do people need to know about getting it set up and running?

Well, there are many different programs in the project:

* WebSpeech is a Javascript library. Web developers should know how to use it.

* Two games based on WebSpeech on the website of eGuideDog project are for blind users and have nothing to set up.

* WebAnywhere, which we help to develop, needs LAMP/WAMP. Here is the page for details.

* Ekho TTS runs on Windows (SAPI5, GTK+), Linux (CLI, GTK+), and Android. It can be used to read articles, but integrating it with the standard speech API for these operating systems is still under development.

* zhspeak, a very lightweight Chinese TTS developed by Dr Colin Kong, is a Python script which uses the same voice as Ekho.

* There are also some Perl scripts which can help people to use Festival, eSpeak, and dictionaries of Ekho.

* The Gradint language-learning program uses Ekho data and eSpeak, and can run on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Windows Mobile phones with or without touch screens (but not Windows Phone 7), Symbian S60 phones, and RISC OS. (It can also be used to read articles on these systems.)

What gave you an indication that your project was becoming successful?

When some people told me that it was useful. Of course, feedback from blind users is especially welcome.

What has been your biggest surprise?

Silas told me that Cheng Yali was willing to record the Mandarin voice and Hae-Sung Jeon was willing to record the Korean voice. Recording a voice for TTS is a very tiring work.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Improving the voice quality is the biggest challenge. I have recorded the Cantonese voice of Ekho TTS many times with different methods.

Why do you think your project has been so well received?

I think because it has filled in some blanks.

What advice would you give to a project that’s just starting out?

Have a plan about how to keep going if the project cannot succeed in a short time.

Where do you see your project going?

I expect Ekho TTS to be widely used in screen readers on different platforms and a complete software system for the blind will be developed. Of course, I won’t write everything myself. I will cooperate with other project to make things happen. It’s a long way.

What’s on your project wish list?

• * Improve Ekho TTS to work with standard speech APIs on different platforms
• * Help develop Chinese open source screen readers on Windows (NVDA) and Linux
• * Help develop a Linux distribution for the blind (maybe Vinux)
• * Find volunteers or cooperate with NGOs to teach blind people how to use computers

What are you most proud of?

I think what I am doing is bringing great value to society.

If you could change something about the project, what would it be?

To find more stable volunteers. Maybe another leader with skills about maintaining a team is needed.

How do you coordinate the project?

I am afraid that most of the time I am the only developer. Everything is in my mind.

How many hours a month do you and/or your team devote to the project?

Maybe 50 on average.

What is your development environment like?

Windows XP, Ubuntu Linux, sometimes with Fedora Linux when I build the RPM package, and an Open Suse 11.0 server which hosts WebAnywhere. I use MinGW to build the Windows GTK+ version of Ekho, VS2005 to building the Windows SAPI5 version, and Inno to pack it up. Android SDK under Windows for the Android version of Ekho, LAMP for web applications, VirtualBox and Qemu to do testing on different distributions. I use Ubuntu Linux for the rest. I like to write scripts with Perl and do editing in VI.

Milestones:

How can others contribute?

eGuideDog is a very general project to write software for the blind. As long as they agree with this goal and want to provide help, just email me.