WORLD: A Vocoder-Based High-Quality Speech Synthesis System for Real-Time Applications

SUMMARY A vocoder-based speech synthesis system, named WORLD, was developed in an e ff ort to improve the sound quality of real-time applications using speech. Speech analysis, manipulation, and synthesis on the basis of vocoders are used in various kinds of speech research. Although several high-quality speech synthesis systems have been developed, real-time processing has been di ffi cult with them because of their high computational costs. This new speech synthesis system has not only sound quality but also quick processing. It consists of three analysis algorithms and one synthesis algorithm proposed in our previous research. The e ff ectiveness of the system was evaluated by comparing its output with against natural speech including consonants. Its processing speed was also compared with those of conventional systems. The results showed that WORLD was superior to the other systems in terms of both sound quality and processing speed. In particular, it was over ten times faster than the conventional systems, and the real time factor (RTF) indicated that it was fast enough for real-time processing.