Elderis Adds Ivona Voice to Connected TV Set-Top Box

Elderis, a French provider of technologies for the elderly and disabled, has partnered with Ivona Software to bring its text-to-speech technology to connected TVs by providing talking features for channel guides and program information.

Ivona TTS will enhance the playback control (set-top boxes, screen readers, and billing) for the Connected TV Set-Top Box developed by Elderis. Thanks to the service portal, which is accessible on the Internet via users' TVs, users can communicate with relatives, enjoy entertainment, and stay informed in their homes using their remote controls.

"In the Western world where the pace of life is steadily increasing, the isolation of an elderly person is a key issue for governments to be tackled. Maintaining social and intergenerational ties that are essential assets for this population's well-being at home also allows the states in each country to achieve substantial savings," said Jean-Jacques Hennin, CEO of Elderis, in a statement. "Following our design for all approach, guaranteeing accessibility to people with visual impairments is a key requirement that can be achieved with a high-quality text-to-speech solution. That’s the reason why we have chosen Ivona."

"On the technical side, it took us only half a week to integrate the Ivona Speech Cloud REST API with our application," said Tahar Boussaha, chief technology officer at Elderis, in the statement. "And this without any direct support from Ivona. The information available from their Web site was enough."