Image Credits:<\/strong> Apple<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So, if a low vision user wanted to heat up food in the microwave, they could use Point and Speak to discern the difference between the \u201cpopcorn,\u201d \u201cpizza\u201d and \u201cpower level\u201d buttons \u2014 when the device identifies this text, it reads it out loud. Point and Speak will be available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Japanese and Ukrainian.<\/p>\n

A particularly interesting feature from the bunch is Personal Voice, which creates an automated voice that sounds like you, rather than Siri. The tool is designed for people who may be at risk of losing their vocal speaking ability from conditions like ALS. To generate a Personal Voice, the user has to spend about 15 minutes reading randomly chosen text prompts clearly into their microphone. Then, using machine learning, the audio is processed locally on your iPhone, iPad or Mac to create your Personal Voice. It sounds similar to what Acapela has been doing with its \u201cmy own voice\u201d service, which works with other assistive devices.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see how a repository of unique, highly trained text to speech models could be dangerous in the wrong hands. But according to Apple, this custom voice data is never shared with anyone, even Apple itself. In fact, Apple says doesn\u2019t even connect your personal voice with your Apple ID, as some households might share a log-in. Instead, users must opt in if they want a Personal Voice they make on their Mac to be accessible on their iPhone, or vice versa.<\/p>\n

At launch, Personal Voice will only be available for English speakers, and can only be created on devices with Apple silicon.<\/p>\n