Is speech synth just a novelty? Or is there any software such as educational titles that use it? Perhaps there is a list out there in the wild interwebz?
I was thinking of buying a reactivemicro mockingboard clone and I'm trying to decide if speech chip is worth the extra $$$?
Thx!
Back in the day speech synthesis in games was little more than a novelty and decoration and most games were designed to be played either way.
In former days the Apple has been used also in schools with disabled....
but there have been several solutions for speech output and / or speech input.
The solutions were offered in a wide range of cost....
the cheapest only used software emulation like S.A.M. .....
thet most medium priced speech output systems used the SSI263 chip as synthesizer
but they were rather poor supported by gaming software - but at schools for blind
the Apple was often used with such system together with braille keyboards.
So even today research should take a look for the history of that source....
The most expensive systems ( like the Lisner1000 or the VOC2020 ) used the SP1000
chips that also offered speec input / recognition ( that even permitted speaking commands
or programming with speech input ) have been rare and used in connection with paraphlegia.
Such solutions first have been introduced to public with Apple Computers ( in general the //e )
till about 1987..... after that with growing market of IBM PC's the PC's governred the market...
You must bear in mind that such specialized usage only adressed to very tiny market of users and
it required very much manpower time for programming such systems.
For information about that topic i'd recommend for research of simple speech systems the reviews of
former User Magazins ( 1980 - 1985 )and for the dedicated expensive systems the reviews of the medical publications
at the library of the local universities ( 1984 - 1987 )...
sincerely
speedyG