The effects of emotionally worded synthesized speech on the ratings of emotions and voice quality

Mirja Ilves, Veikko Surakka, Toni Vanhala

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionScientificpeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The present research investigated how the verbal content of synthetic messages affects participants' emotional responses and the ratings of voice quality. 28 participants listened to emotionally worded sentences produced by a monotonous and a prosodic tone of voice while the activity of corrugator supercilii facial muscle was measured. Ratings of emotions and voice quality were also collected. The results showed that the ratings of emotions were significantly affected by the emotional contents of the sentences. The prosodic tone of voice evoked more emotion-relevant ratings of arousal than the monotonous voice. Corrugator responses did not seem to reflect emotional reactions. Interestingly, the quality of the same voice was rated higher when the content of the sentences was positive as compared to the neutral and negative sentences. Thus, the emotional content of the spoken messages can be used to regulate users' emotions and to evoke positive feelings about the voices.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationAffective Computing and Intelligent Interaction - 4th International Conference, ACII 2011, Proceedings
    Place of PublicationBerlin
    PublisherSpringer
    Pages588-598
    Number of pages11
    Volume6974 LNCS
    EditionPART 1
    ISBN (Print)978-3-642-24599-2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011
    Publication typeA4 Article in conference proceedings
    Event4th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, ACII 2011 - Memphis, TN, United States
    Duration: 9 Oct 201112 Oct 2011

    Publication series

    NameLecture Notes in Computer Science
    Number6974
    ISSN (Print)0302-9743

    Conference

    Conference4th International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction, ACII 2011
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityMemphis, TN
    Period9/10/1112/10/11

    Keywords

    • Emotions
    • facial expression
    • speech synthesis
    • voice quality

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Theoretical Computer Science
    • General Computer Science

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