Concerning lineside detectors (defect, dragging equipment, etc.)....some have electronically synthesized voices that transmit responses on the railroad radio, some have recorded human voices. In the case of the recorded human voices, who provides those? The railroad or the detector manufacturer? Thanks!
Bill
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig"
The manufacturer. (aka Servo-talk)
(I still get a good giggle from the talkers that sound like Teddy Ruxpin on an acid trip.)
rdamonAt the ATL airport Delta alternates between male and female voices for the automated announcements at adjacent gates.
Like the announcements at the beginning of "Airplane" about the loading zones?
The first talking detector was Miss Majel Barret's voice recording. She was the wife of Gene Roddenberry and one of the the stars of the Star Trek series. Miss SP...
The first home computer we had (TI-99) had a voice synthesizer module. The fun part was getting it to pronounce words correctly, which required some pretty interesting spellings.
Left to its own devices, it would often massacre words pretty badly.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Yes, Larry, think of "through," "rough," and "thorough."
Johnny
The first talking detector was Miss Majel Barret's voice recording. She was the wife of Gene Roddenberry and one of the the stars of the Star Trek series
She was also the voice of the main computer in the original series.
I love the story they told new-hire van drivers shuttling crews that the detectors were staffed by midgets.
The person who thought of putting her in the trackside detectors was truly Enterprising.Our first synthetic caller in the Crew Management Center was called "Sven" by some people. I remember one guy who used to work with us: John Obert III. His last name was pronounced to rhyme with Stephen Colbert. Except by Sven, who would list him as "John Oberdieee"!
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Carl, at least the voice did not call out, "John Obert one hundred eleven." When I was in the fifth grade (1946-47), one of my classmates was reading something about World War II, and said "World War eleven."
Deggesty Yes, Larry, think of "through," "rough," and "thorough."
Even common words can throw sythesizers for a loop. Can't remember any at the moment, though. It's been a while since I played with that computer.
On a similar vein, I recall reading that voice recognition in the early days was a challenge when dealing with New England (especially Maine), where "five" becomes "fye-uv..."
Of course, when such a computer is programmed by people who never learned to talk properly (they did not grow up in the South), the result just does not sound right.
Randy Stahl The first talking detector was Miss Majel Barret's voice recording. She was the wife of Gene Roddenberry and one of the the stars of the Star Trek series. Miss SP...
She still lives on in UP detectors.
Jeff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majel_Barrett#The_voice_in_the_railroads
"SP Lady" - "The only railroad that still uses her voice today is Union Pacific.[14]"
http://wavs.unclebubby.com/television/star-trek-computer/ sounds
http://www.franksradio.net/startrek/sounds/
http://www.sherylfranklin.com/trekwomen_chapel_sounds.html
- Paul North.
ChuckCobleigh Like the announcements at the beginning of "Airplane" about the loading zones?
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