Using text-to-speech on PC

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Last updated 18 days ago

Using text-to-speech on PC

Text-to-speech is not natively supported in Windows or ENGAGE. The following solution uses third-party software which is not verified or endorsed by ENGAGE XR.

If you have software on your computer that can convert text to speech, which includes Microsoft Word, then you can feed that computer generated voice into the ENGAGE application to speak on your behalf. To do this, you use a piece of software called a virtual audio cable. Example software includes the following:

VB-CABLE:
Virtual Audio Cable (VAC):
JACK Audio Connection Kit:

The following instructions use Microsoft Word and VB-CABLE.

Setting up Microsoft Word for text-to-speech

There are two methods that you can use to generate speech in Microsoft Word. You can use the following instructions to enable both, and then decide which you prefer.

Open Microsoft Word and create a blank document.
On the ribbon, select File.
In the bottom-left corner of the files page, select Options.
In the Word Options window, select Quick Access Toolbar.
From the Choose commands from list, select All Commands.
From the list of commands on the left, select Speak, and then select the Add button between the two lists.
From the list of commands on the left, select Speech, and then select the Add button between the two lists.
Select OK.

Two icons are added to the Quick Access Toolbar, as shown in the following image:

If you don't see the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the ribbon, and then select Show Quick Access Toolbar.

Using Speak in Microsoft Word

The Speak tool has an unnatural voice, but produces the audio quickly.

Enter text in the document, and then highlight that text.

Using Speech in Microsoft Word

The Speech tool has a more natural voice, but is slower.

To change the voice gender, select Settings on the Read Aloud toolbar, and then choose a gender from the Voice Selection list.
When you want to generate speech from text, highlight the text, and then select the Play button on the Read Aloud toolbar.

If you don't highlight any text, the Speech tool reads from the current cursor position to the end of the document.

Sending voice output to the virtual audio cable

The following instructions assume that you have VB-CABLE installed. The steps for other virtual audio cable software will be similar.

After you send audio output to the virtual audio cable, it will no longer be sent to your headphones or speakers. Because of this, you will not be able to hear any audio from the source application. If you want to undo the change, repeat the steps but select Default as the Output device.

Choose one of the following options:
In the Search bar, enter sound mixer, and then select Sound mixer options in the Best match section of the search results.
On the Volume mixer page, in the Apps section, expand the application that will generate your speech. In this example, Microsoft Word.
From the Output device list, select the virtual audio cable.

You don't need to configure the Input device for the ENGAGE application. You do that in the ENGAGE application instead.

Receiving voice input from the virtual audio cable

To use the output from the text-to-speech application in ENGAGE, complete the following steps:

In a session, press Esc on your keyboard to open your menu.
From the right-hand menu, select the cog icon.
On the Settings page, select User Preferences.
On the User Preferences page, from the Microphone list, select the virtual audio cable.

When you generate voice from text in the source application, you will see the microphone indicator move in ENGAGE. However, you will not hear the spoken audio.

If your software provides multiple virtual audio cables, ensure that you choose the same cable in both the volume mixer and in ENGAGE.

PreviousMicrosoft Windows NextAdding hotkey controls to turn your avatar

Last updated 18 days ago

Text-to-speech is not natively supported in Windows or ENGAGE. The following solution uses third-party software which is not verified or endorsed by ENGAGE XR.

VB-CABLE:
Virtual Audio Cable (VAC):
JACK Audio Connection Kit:

The following instructions use Microsoft Word and VB-CABLE.

Setting up Microsoft Word for text-to-speech

There are two methods that you can use to generate speech in Microsoft Word. You can use the following instructions to enable both, and then decide which you prefer.

Open Microsoft Word and create a blank document.
On the ribbon, select File.
In the bottom-left corner of the files page, select Options.
In the Word Options window, select Quick Access Toolbar.
From the Choose commands from list, select All Commands.
From the list of commands on the left, select Speak, and then select the Add button between the two lists.
From the list of commands on the left, select Speech, and then select the Add button between the two lists.
Select OK.

Two icons are added to the Quick Access Toolbar, as shown in the following image:

If you don't see the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click on the ribbon, and then select Show Quick Access Toolbar.

Using Speak in Microsoft Word

The Speak tool has an unnatural voice, but produces the audio quickly.

Enter text in the document, and then highlight that text.
In the Quick Access Toolbar, select Speak selected text.

Using Speech in Microsoft Word

The Speech tool has a more natural voice, but is slower.

In the Quick Access Toolbar, select Speech, and then select Read Aloud from the menu that appears. The Read Aloud toolbar appears.
To change the voice gender, select Settings on the Read Aloud toolbar, and then choose a gender from the Voice Selection list.
When you want to generate speech from text, highlight the text, and then select the Play button on the Read Aloud toolbar.

If you don't highlight any text, the Speech tool reads from the current cursor position to the end of the document.

Sending voice output to the virtual audio cable

The following instructions assume that you have VB-CABLE installed. The steps for other virtual audio cable software will be similar.

Choose one of the following options:
- Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
- On the taskbar, select the Windows Start button.
In the Search bar, enter sound mixer, and then select Sound mixer options in the Best match section of the search results.
On the Volume mixer page, in the Apps section, expand the application that will generate your speech. In this example, Microsoft Word.
From the Output device list, select the virtual audio cable.

You don't need to configure the Input device for the ENGAGE application. You do that in the ENGAGE application instead.

Receiving voice input from the virtual audio cable

To use the output from the text-to-speech application in ENGAGE, complete the following steps:

In a session, press Esc on your keyboard to open your menu.
From the right-hand menu, select the cog icon.
On the Settings page, select User Preferences.
On the User Preferences page, from the Microphone list, select the virtual audio cable.

When you generate voice from text in the source application, you will see the microphone indicator move in ENGAGE. However, you will not hear the spoken audio.

If your software provides multiple virtual audio cables, ensure that you choose the same cable in both the volume mixer and in ENGAGE.