tts personality and choice

6/2/00 Speech Interface Experiments TTS Personality and Choice

TTS Personality, Similarity-

Attraction, and Choice

Kwan M. Lee


Key Questions

• Can computer-generated speech manifest personality?

• How important is the manifestation of personality?


Importance of the Questions

– Psychological Issues• Human voice manifests personality• Could clearly non-human TTS do the

same?– Less primitive than gender

• Does similarity-attraction work with voices?

• Is there proximate source orientation?



– Design Issues• TTS parameters are readily selected• How should we choose the settings?


Context– Book purchase site on the web

• Five book reviews, each followed by questions


Experimental Design

– IV1: Personality of subject• Myers-Briggs Personality scale• Wiggins Introvert adjective index• Wiggins Extrovert adjective index

– IV2: Coding of subject’s voice for introversion/extroversion


Manipulation of TTS personality

– CSLU Toolkit for TTS– Extrovert voice

• F0: 140Hz (F0)• Pitch range: 40Hz • Words per minute: 181 • Volume level: 100%

– Introvert voice• F0: 82 Hz (F0)• Pitch range: 16 Hz • Words per minute: 154• Volume level: 15%


Extroverted Voice


Introverted Voice


Extroversion of TTS Voice

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

Extrov Voice Introv Voice

Extrovert SubjIntrovert Subj


Buying Intention

3

3.5

4

4.5

Extrov Subject Introv Subject

Extrov VoiceIntrov Voice


Quality of the Book Review

13

14

15

16




Credibility of the Reviewer

15

16

17

18

19

20

21




Other Results

– Reliability of subject’s voice coding = .8– Correlation of subject’s voice and subject’s

personality = .23 (signif., but small)– Similarity of subject’s voice and TTS voice

does not have any effect


Psychological Implications– TTS voice manifests personality– Voices are social actors

• Even when obviously non-human – Similarity-attraction operates with subject’s

personality (not person’s voice) and TTS personality

• Buying intention• Perceived quality• Credibility

– Personality of voice has effects beyond the proximate

• Reviewer


Design Implications– Personality types are easily created– Personality is powerful– Personality is a key individual difference – Personality does not require AI– “Casting” of TTS personality


Follow-up with Choice


Key Questions– Will users choose TTS voice according

to their own personality? – Does computer generated speech

manifest personality even when users have a choice?

– Does choice affect previous results?



– Psychological Issues• Assignment vs. Choice: The similarity-

attraction experiments upside down• Cognitive dissonance vs. Similarity

attraction• Predicting personality from choice

behaviors



– Design Issues• Empirical test of the value of choice in

HCI


Do people choose matching personality?

– Classify participants as extrovert or introvert• Wiggins extrovert scale• Wiggins introvert scale• Myers-Briggs E/I scale

– Participants do not choose a TTS voice according to his/her personality.


Does TTS manifest personality?

3

4

5

Voice Extrovertedness

Extrovert TTSIntrovert TTS


Is there proximate source orientation?

4

4.5

5

5.5

Reviewer Extrovertedness

Extrovert TTSIntrovert TTS


Is there similarity-attraction?

– No significant similarity attraction effects • voice attractiveness• voice credibility• quality of the review• liking of the reviewer• credibility of the reviewer• user’s buying intention

– Choice is the key predictor• Cognitive dissonance overwhelms

similarity-attraction


Psychological Implications– TTS voice manifests personality even

when chosen by a user– Proximate source orientation is very

powerful• Even when voice is obviously arbitrary!

– Cognitive dissonance weakens similarity-attraction• Initial choice determines later social

responses


Design Implications– People automatically assign a

personality to TTS voices– Personality of voice affects all

subsequent perceptions• Casting issues

– Choice matters!: • Commitment leads to positive social

responses

tts personality and choice

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