DESC:BACKGROUND
Technical Field
The embodiments herein generally relate to a text to audio conversion system and more particularly to a method and system for an automated live conversion of text from Portable Document Format (PDF), documents, or web link, etc. but not limited to various file formats and texts mentioned herein to an audio output.

Description of the Related Art

Text-to-audio or speech technology offers several benefits for content owners and publishers as well as their content consumers. Content consumers can be website visitors, mobile application users, online learners, and more. Text to audio or speech allows content owners to respond to the different needs and desires of each user in terms of how they interact with the content.

While text to speech has benefits for all users, some of the specific groups that see a better user experience are: People with learning disabilities – Some people have difficulty reading large amounts of text due to dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Offering them an easier option for experiencing website content is a great way to engage them. People who have literacy difficulties – Some people have basic literary levels. They often get frustrated trying to browse the internet because so much of it is in text form. By offering them an option to hear the text instead of reading it, they can get valuable information in a way that is more comfortable for them. People who speak the language but do not read it – Having a speech option for the foreign born will open up your audience to this under-served population. Many people who come to a new country learn to speak and understand the native language effectively, but may still have difficulty reading in a second language. Though they may be able to read content with a basic understanding, text to speech technology allows them to take in the information in a way they are more comfortable with, making your content easier to comprehend and retain.

People who multitask – A busy life often means that people do not have time to do all the reading they would like to do online. Having a chance to listen to the content instead of reading it allows them to do something else at the same time. With the prevalence of smart phones and tablets, it also provides an option for content consumption on the go, taking content away from the computer screen and into any environment that’s convenient for the consumer. People with visual impairment – Text to speech can be a very useful tool for the mild or moderately visually impaired. Even for people with the visual capability to read, the process can often cause too much strain to be of any use or enjoyment. With text to speech, people with visual impairment can take in all manner of content in comfort instead of strain. People who access content on mobile devices – Reading a great deal of content on a small screen is not always easy. Having text-to-speech tool in doing the work is much easier. It allows people to get the information they want without a great deal of scrolling and aggravation. People with different learning styles – Some people are auditory learners, some are visual learners, and some are kinesthetic learners – most learn best through a combination of the three. Universal Design for Learning is a plan for teaching which, through the use of technology and adaptable lesson plans, aims to help the maximum number of learners comprehend and retain information by appealing to all learning styles.

Consider the situation when one is reading in the back seat of a car. Your eyes, fixed on the book with the peripheral vision seeing the interior of the car, say that you are still. But as the car goes over bumps, turns, or changes its velocity, your ears disagree. This is why motion sickness is common in this situation. The driver of the car is generally least likely to suffer from motion sickness, because he not only has accurate sensory information from his ears, eyes and touch, but he is also controlling the car and can therefore anticipate turns, accelerations and decelerations. This position allows him to better calibrate his expectations of movement with the car's actual movement. Listening to music or audio as a distraction has proven to be helpful. Combining that music by hydrating your body with water, as well as fixating your eyes on one spot on the horizon, can provide extra help in distracting your mind and hopefully relieving some discomfort. For various reasons as mentioned above, documents have to be converted to speech (spoken text) using text-to-speech processing. A user desiring to review a document can then listen to the resulting speech instead of having to read through the document. For users with impaired vision, listening to the resulting speech for a document is particularly important. Further, in recent years, documents have become more complex and more diversified. As a result, today's documents can have many different formats and contain various different document elements, including links, images, headings, tables, captions, footnotes, etc., which makes text-to-speech processing more challenging.

Text-to-speech processing is a processor-intensive activity, making it impractical for many portable devices that have limited processing power while managing creation, delivery and consumption of audio outputs that provide speech associated with the said documents. Thus, there is a need to provide improved text-to-speech/audio processing that can present textual information to listeners seamlessly irrespective of the text, content, web link, etc.

SUMMARY
The embodiments of the present provides a system for text to audio conversion. The system includes a document fetching module which fetches or obtains the desired document into the system which requires text to audio conversion, a text extraction module, wherein the text extraction module extracts only the text content of the desired document, a parsing module, wherein the extracted text from the desired document is parsed to identify language of the text, a language identification module 108 to identify the language of the text, a translation module to convert the text into a desired language by a user, a text to audio conversion module, wherein the translated text is converted into appropriate audio or speech signal and a speaker driven by the audio or speech signal.

In an embodiment, the system also includes a database to store various language databases and parsing program. In one embodiment, the module eliminates pictures in any format such as JPEG, BITMAP, GIF, web-link, etc. or like from the text.

In an embodiment, the language identification module compares wordings of parsed text with the existing language database stored in the database and accordingly identify the language. In an example embodiment, the system accepts document in any format such as PDF, MS Word, pages, docs, MS excel, a web link etc. and convert to an audio or speech as per the desired language.

A method for text to audio conversion in a system is provided herein. The method steps include initializing an electronic device to obtain a desired document into the system, obtaining the desired document into the electronic device through a document fetching module, extracting only text content from the obtained document through the text extraction module, parsing the extracted text from the obtained document through the parsing module, wherein the extracted text from the desired document is parsed to identify language of the text, identifying language of the parsed text extracted from the document through the language identification module, translating the parsed text into desired language text through the translation module and converting the desired language text into audible speech or audio signal through the text to audio conversion module.

These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments:

The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG 1 is the front view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment
of the present invention
FIG 2 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of
the present invention
FIG 3 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of one of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention
FIG 1 is the front view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment
of the present invention
FIG 2 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of
the present invention
FIG 3 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of one of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for text to speech or audio conversion according to an embodiment mentioned herein;

FIG. 2 is a method illustrating live text to audio conversion process according to an embodiment mentioned herein; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a computer system according to an embodiment herein.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG 1 is the front view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment
of the present invention
FIG 2 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of an alternate embodiment of
the present invention
FIG 3 is the top view of the mechanical schematic diagram of one of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention
Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the particular structure of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

References in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” member that a particular feature, structure, characteristics, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. That is, those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present invention with unnecessary detail. All statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function, regardless of structure.

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that block diagrams herein can represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the technology. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

Accordingly, there remains a need for a system or method whereby documents have to be converted to speech (spoken text) using text-to-speech processing. The documents may have many different formats and contain various different document elements, including links, images, headings, tables, captions, footnotes, etc., which makes text-to-speech processing more challenging. The system should be able to provide improved text-to-speech/audio processing that can present textual information to listeners seamlessly irrespective of the text, content, web link, etc.

The present embodiments herein provides a user with an improved text to audio conversion system for an automated live conversion of text from Portable Document Format (PDF), documents, or web link, etc. but not just limited to various file formats and texts mentioned herein to a clear audio output. The user herein may be any person who is interacting with the system. Referring now to the figures, more particularly from FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, preferred embodiments are shown.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 for text to speech or audio conversion according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The system 100 includes a document fetching module 102, a text extraction module 104, a parsing module 106, language identification module 108, a translation module 110, a translated text to audio conversion module 112 and a speaker 24.

In an embodiment, the system may also include a database 114. The system 100 is initialized in order to start the operation of conversion from text to audio or speech. In an embodiment, the desired document which requires text to audio conversion may be fetched when the system 100 when initialized. In an embodiment, the document fetching module 102 fetches or obtains the desired document into the system 100 which requires text to audio conversion.

In an embodiment, the text extraction module 104 extracts only the text content of the desired document. The module 104 eliminates pictures in any format (for e.g. JPEG, BITMAP, GIF, etc), web-link, etc. from the document. In one embodiment, the extracted text from the desired document is parsed, so that the parsed text language may be identified. The parsing of the text may be performed in the parsing module 106. In an example embodiment, the database 114 may also store parsing program module in order to parse the text from the obtained document.

In an embodiment, the parsed text language may be identified. The identification of the text language may be performed in the language identification module 108. In an example embodiment, the database 114 may store various language databases. The language identification module 108 may compare the wordings of parsed text with the existing language database stored in the database 114 and accordingly identify the language. Once the language is identified from the parsed text, the text may be converted or translated to a desired language. In an embodiment, the parsed text may be converted to a desired language by the user in the translation module 110.

In an embodiment, the translated text may be converted to an audio or speech signal accordingly. The conversion may be performed in the translated text to audio conversion module 112. The audio signal generated from such conversion may drive the speaker of an electronic device (ref. fig 3). The text to audio conversion is seamless and continuous according to the translated language text.

In one embodiment, the system 100, may accept document in any format for e.g. PDF, MSWord, pages, docs, MSexcel, etc. and convert to an audio or speech as per the desired language. In another embodiment, the system 100, may accept a web link and then eliminate the images, tables headings, tables, captions, footnotes, etc or any other sub-link from the web link and convert only the text to an audio or speech as per the desired language.

FIG. 2 is a method illustrating live text to audio conversion process according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The method includes in step 202, an electronic device may be initialized to obtain a desired document into the system 100. In step 204, the desired document may be obtained into the system 100 (for e.g. through the document fetching module 102).

In step 206, extracting only text content from the obtained document (for e.g. through the text extraction module 104). In step 208, the extracted text is parsed from the obtained document (for e.g. through the parsing module 106). In step 210, identifying language of the parsed text extracted from the document (for e.g. through the language identification module 108).

In step 212, the parsed text is translated into desired language text (for e.g. through the translation module 110). In step 214, the desired language text is converted into audible speech or audio signal (for e.g. through the text to audio conversion module 112). In an embodiment the audio signal appropriately drives the speaker resulting in true text to audio conversion.

The embodiments herein include both hardware and software elements. Preferably, the software embodiments include, but are not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore, the embodiments herein can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can comprise, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output (I/O) devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters.

A representative hardware environment for practicing the embodiments herein is depicted in FIG. 3. This schematic drawing illustrates a hardware configuration of an information handling/computer system in accordance with the embodiments herein. The system comprises at least one processor or central processing unit (CPU) 10. The CPUs 10 are interconnected via system bus 12 to various devices such as a random access memory (RAM) 14, read-only memory (ROM) 16, and an input/output (I/O) adapter 18. The I/O adapter 18 can connect to peripheral devices, such as disk units 11 and tape drives 13, or other program storage devices that are readable by the system. The system can read the inventive instructions on the program storage devices and follow these instructions to execute the methodology of the embodiments herein. The system further includes a user interface adapter 19 that connects a keyboard 15, mouse 17, speaker 24, microphone 22, and/or other user interface devices such as a touch screen device (not shown) to the bus 12 to gather user input. Additionally, a communication adapter 20 connects the bus 12 to a data processing network 25, and a display adapter 21 connects the bus 12 to a display device 23 which may be embodied as an output device such as a monitor, printer, or transmitter, for example.

The advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a system for text to audio conversion. The conversion may be seamless and customized as per the needs of the user.

In another advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, the objective is to provide an audio conversion start from where you tap on any word in the desired text and stop by pressing stop button. The user may start the audio from any point where they wish to start the audio conversion. In this feature the audio will automatically stop once the document page gets ended, thus providing a complete customization to the user.

In yet another advantageous embodiment, the objective is to provide an audio conversion start continuously from page to page. However, in both the advantageous embodiment, the user may have to the control to stop the conversion at any possible juncture. The user may also have the option to skip any page from the document and move on to the next page as desired. In one advantageous embodiment, the user may also make customized notes as they flip through the pages while the text is getting converted to an audio.

In one of the additional embodiment, the user may use the search feature to find a particular word in the desired text or document and then start playing the audio from that word. In yet another embodiment, the search feature may also help the user to identify how much page is remaining to be completed for audio conversion. The user may be provided with complete customization with the search feature, which helps him to navigate seamlessly through the document for text to audio conversion.

In one example embodiment, the system 100 provides a solution or alternative to listen to the user rather than having the only option of reading. The system herein may empower the user to listen anything which may be available in their mobile phones in any readable document format and any content of a webpage.

The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method or alternate methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. However, for ease of explanation, in the embodiments described below, the method may be considered to be implemented in the above described system and/or the apparatus and/or any electronic device (not shown).

The above description does not provide specific details of manufacture or design of the various components. Those of skill in the art are familiar with such details, and unless departures from those techniques are set out, techniques, known, related art or later developed designs and materials should be employed. Those in the art are capable of choosing suitable manufacturing and design details.

Note that throughout the following discussion, numerous references may be made regarding servers, services, engines, modules, interfaces, portals, platforms, or other systems formed from computing devices. It should be appreciated that the use of such terms are deemed to represent one or more computing devices having at least one processor configured to or programmed to execute software instructions stored on a computer readable tangible, non-transitory medium or also referred to as a processor-readable medium. For example, a server can include one or more computers operating as a web server, database server, or other type of computer server in a manner to fulfill described roles, responsibilities, or functions. Within the context of this document, the disclosed devices or systems are also deemed to comprise computing devices having a processor and a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor that cause the device to control, manage, or otherwise manipulate the features of the devices or systems.
It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion herein, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “generating” or “monitoring” or “displaying” or “tracking” or “identifying” “or receiving” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Alternatively, the method may be implemented in transitory media, such as a transmittable carrier wave in which the control program is embodied as a data signal using transmission media, such as acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications, and the like.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as encompassed by the following claims.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope. ,CLAIMS:WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A system 100 for text to audio conversion comprising:
a document fetching module 102 which fetches or obtains the desired document into the system 100 which requires text to audio conversion;
a text extraction module 104, wherein the text extraction module 104 extracts only the text content of the desired document;
a parsing module 106, wherein the extracted text from the desired document is parsed to identify language of the text;
a language identification module 108 to identify the language of the text;
a translation module 110 to convert the text into a desired language by a user;
a text to audio conversion module 112, wherein the translated text is converted into appropriate audio or speech signal; and
a speaker 24 driven by the audio or speech signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system includes a database 114 to store various language databases and parsing program.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the module 104 eliminates pictures in any format such as JPEG, BITMAP, GIF, web-link, etc. or like from the text.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the language identification module 108 compare wordings of parsed text with the existing language database stored in the database 114 and accordingly identify the language.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system 100 accepts document in any format such as PDF, MS Word, pages, docs, MS excel, a web link etc. and convert to an audio or speech as per the desired language.

6. A method for text to audio conversion in a system 100 comprising steps of:
initializing an electronic device to obtain a desired document into the system 100;
obtaining the desired document into the electronic device through a document fetching module 102;
extracting only text content from the obtained document through the text extraction module 104;
parsing the extracted text from the obtained document through the parsing module 106, wherein the extracted text from the desired document is parsed to identify language of the text;
identifying language of the parsed text extracted from the document through the language identification module 108;
translating the parsed text into desired language text through the translation module 110; and
converting the desired language text into audible speech or audio signal through the text to audio conversion module 112.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the system includes a database 114 to store various language databases and parsing program.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the module 104 eliminates pictures in any format such as JPEG, BITMAP, GIF, web-link, etc. or like from the text.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the language identification module 108 compare wordings of parsed text with the existing language database stored in the database 114 and accordingly identify the language.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the system 100 accepts document in any format such as PDF, MS Word, pages, docs, MS excel, a web link etc. and convert to an audio or speech as per the desired language.