The "Say Hello" is a Network Speech Server made from off the shelf hardware components.

Any device connected to the same Wi-Fi network can now have a voice without a dedicated speech module.

For background information see the That's What She Said article at the Main SFAQT blog.

I like to think of it as the voice for my "Internet of Things"

While studying the technology in the movie "War Games," I was inspired to make something like the Magic Talkie Box with the voice of Joshua. It is the "Say Hello module."

Problem 1: The voice in wargames was not TTS (Text-To-Speech). It was actually done by a voice actor and modified to sound like a computer.

Solution 1: I decided to accept that my module will never sound like Joshua. And so I chose to use the "Emic 2 Text-to-Speech Module." According to Parllax Inc. it is "Industry-standard DECtalk text-to-speech synthesizer engine (5.0.E1)." It sounds similar but not quite the same as the unit used by Stephen Hawking.

Problem 2: The chosen module is very expensive. $60-80 depending on where you buy it. Far too expensive to embed in every single project we churn out at the labs. But I really like the way it sounds.

Solution2 : Use one module and share it between multiple projects.

I chose to go with a very grungy prototype look. It could have easily had all the part inside the case. But I felt it had a nicer hacked look by putting everything outside the case, with wires wildy running about.

This is where this page comes in.

I use a Digi Wifi module that listen on a port. When data comes in on that port it politely forwards it to the TTS module.

Now any device anywhere on my LAN can talk to the TTS module.

Bonus: the module has 7 built in voices. Now each thing that talks to it can have a use a different voice.

Bonus Bonus: I will update this page every time I make a new thing talk to it. In as many languages as possible