What Do Robots Sound Like?

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest, Evan Ratliff, is the writer and host of the 2024 smash hit podcast Shell Game. He is also an award winning investigative journalist and author, having written about technology for the past 25 years.Shell Game Podcast - https://www.shellgame.co/podcastEvan's substack - https://substack.com/@evanratliffEvan's website - https://cazart.net/Radiolab episode about Shell Game - https://radiolab.org/podcast/shell-gameExtra linksCharacter AI https://character.aiZoom CEO wants AI clones in meetings Article***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest, Professor Roger Moore, is Professor of Spoken Language Processing at the University of Sheffield. He was head of the UK Govt’s Speech Research Unit from 1985 to 1999 and is also chair of a multi-disciplinary research group called VIHAR - which stands for Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals and Robots.University of Sheffield - https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/cs/people/academic/roger-k-mooreRoger's LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/roger-moore-6671972VIHAR - https://vihar.lis-lab.fr/Extra linksHanson Robotics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Mwl6p1enA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2qxRsCZwcQ MRI of a tongue when singing (trigger warning - slightly gross) https://youtu.be/zGi3CrFx1S4?si=uaUzU8Vb5mlzq1dY***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest, Gabriel Skantze, is the Chief Scientist at Furhat Robotics - a robotics company based in Sweden. He is also Professor in Speech Communication and Technology, with a specialization in Conversational Systems, at KTH in Stockholm.Furhat Website - https://furhatrobotics.comGabriel's LinkedIn - https://se.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-skantzeFeatured -Furhat railway station video (it was in Japan not China according to Gabriel)https://youtu.be/PFQliroGeUo?si=CcpBoWtvQFiTFYt5Gabriel demonstrating the complexities of conversational turn taking and engaging in conversation with Furhat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmp6Se5wh1M Amanda Stenberg on the "douche" personality at Furhat conference https://youtu.be/A0e-kYQDavo?si=Sy61Iy7oNV9-v7aA***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest, Calle Stenqvist, is the Creative Director for Plan8 - a design agency for sound. Plan8 Website - https://plan8.se/Calle's LinkedIn - https://se.linkedin.com/in/calle-stenqvist-9353204 Featured -Projects discussed: Thorne & Volvo Recharge RoomNeedscope archetype wheel explainer videoMisattributed Frank Zappa quote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_about_music_is_like_dancing_about_architecture***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest is UX sound designer Harrison Zafrin who, in his words, "nobody cares more about 8ms sound effects." Harrison works to design sound for multi-sensory interactions on technological devices. I was extra excited to talk to Harrison because he does not work with robots, but the crossover in his professional skillset was seriously illuminating for me.Harrison's LinkedIn - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/harrison-zafrinHarrison's Website - https://www.harrisonzafrin.com/Featured clips -Star Wars battle droids are not very likeable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShQwuJi_FwMBrian Eno, The Microsoft Sound: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno#The_Microsoft_Sound "...when I'd finished that and I went back to working with pieces that were like three minutes long, it seemed like oceans of time."HBO brand ident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_Oh7HizY5IBernie Krause, natural soundscape book: The Great Animal OrchestraHarrison's favourite sound: Noisia & The Upbeats***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This month's guest is composer and sound designer Mike Forst who released Amazon's home companion robot Astro. Mike worked as Audio Lead and then became Character Lead on that project. He is now a freelance composer, sound designer and artist.Mike's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-forst-77823718Mike's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mikeforst/?hl=enAmazon Astro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj1t3msy8dcDefinitions: I noticed Mike and I reference "TTS" several times without defining it as "Text To Speech" - the ability for a computer system to generate speech audio from text rather than pre-recorded voice lines.***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Lead Audio for Anki - Vector / CozmoInterviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This episode’s guest is Ben Gabaldon, formerly Audio Lead for robotics company Anki, where he shipped audio for robots Cozmo and Vector.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-gabaldon-0b829110Cozmo/Vector: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-MsY9pLWKIBen's WIP videos creating voice for the robots: https://vimeo.com/345223512Elevenlabs - cutting edge voice synthesis: https://elevenlabs.io/Ben Burtt IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0123785/Facial micro expressions: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5751645/Railway station robot promo video - "Furhat": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irx30qbiVlUGame audio: https://youtu.be/89_WG5PiTpo?si=V-Pqp3mUzk-1uRbtBoston Dynamics - Spot new feature video: https://youtu.be/qgHeCfMa39E?si=dCBskTrV4kuqFWAiChildren do better with 1on1 tuition study: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-tutoring-in-schools-and-16-to-19-providers/independent-review-of-tutoring-in-16-to-19-providers-phase-1-findings***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/

Interviews on the topic of sound for human-robot interactions. Game audio designer Ali Tocher enjoys long form conversations with a wide range of guests._______Show notes:This episode’s guest is Dr Iain McGregor, an Associate Professor of sound design at Edinburgh’s Napier University.Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/driainmcgregorLink to Dr McGregor’s survey “What's in a name? Human-Robot Interaction” Please fill it out if you're interested.https://survey.napier.ac.uk/TakeSurveyPage.aspx?s=b0311e403a7c405f8e56d34f1b538981&tsid=064aa7b448124d29b481d09a546edd60&c=en-GBDr McGregor’s article on robotics sound designhttps://www.asoundeffect.com/robot-sound-design/Moxi hospital robothttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLY3XxLtkngAudio watermarking in advertisinghttps://medium.com/intrasonics/can-audio-watermarked-connected-ads-reverse-the-drop-in-tv-ad-spend-and-help-save-commercial-tv-8df06fa3a94bBoston dynamics robot “abuse” testing videos *trigger warning*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuA50H9uekhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR5Z6AoMh6UBoston dynamics spot with ChatGPT integration: https://youtu.be/djzOBZUFzTw?si=eK3nc0u-G3PRu66V***SPECIAL THANKS***Original Music: Mara Simpson "Ropes" https://marasimpson.bandcamp.com/Original Artwork: Ben Pearce https://www.benpearce.com/