Voice

When it comes to ultra-humanlike Westworld-style robots, one of their most defining features are lips that move in perfect sync with their spoken words. A new bot not only sports that feature, but it can actually train itself to speak like a person.

The Index 01 ring – from the makers of the Pebble smartwatch – captures your ideas as you speak into it. It's meant to act as external memory for your brain, while lasting for years on a single-use battery that doesn't need recharging.

There could soon be a powerful new aid for people who are unable to speak. British scientists have developed a choker that detects its wearer's silently mouthed words, and converts them into audible synthetic speech.

An AI model accurately tracks emotions like fear and worry in the voices of crisis line callers, according to new research. The model’s developer hopes it can provide real-time assistance to phone operators as they work to prevent suicides.

If you're frequently making confidential phone calls, putting your hand over your mouth and whispering is a far from ideal means of maintaining privacy. That's exactly where the Skyted Silent Mask is intended to come in.

We’ve all been annoyed by someone taking a loud call in a quiet room, and now a Japanese tech company has unveiled a creative, if somewhat bizarre, solution. The Mutalk is a Bluetooth mouthpiece that “mutes” users who speak into it.

Musicians can get their instruments to sing by using sampled vocals or a vocoder, or they can mouth words in a tube running to an effects pedal. Now Casio has developed a keyboard that can voice words and phrases tapped into a mobile app.

When you're working out with dumbbells, stopping to add or remove weights can disrupt the whole flow of things. In order to keep those stops as short as possible, NordicTrack has introduced its voice-controlled iSelect Adjustable Dumbbells.

Tech startup Ampere has smartened up the humble sunglasses with Dusk, a pair of shades that change tint on demand via a phone app or a button press. A deluxe model also packs built-in speakers and a microphone for making calls.

Face masks are here to stay for a while yet – so you might as well have some fun with them. The JabberMask is a voice-activated wearable packed with LEDs that move like a mouth in time with your speech, and can smile or display emojis on demand.

The US Army is developing a voice interface that allows two-way dialogue between soldiers and autonomous robotic systems. The Joint Understanding and Dialogue Interface (JUDI) is designed to reduce training costs and improve soldier/robot teamwork.

Robotics company Anki has unveiled Vector, an emotive little fella who’s basically a cross between a smart home assistant and a pet. New Atlas got a hands-on demo, and found Vector to be a versatile home robot that’s a real charmer and might actually chip in around the house.