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Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
Try out Custom Neural Voice in 5 minutes with a Lite project
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Custom Neural Voice, a feature of Azure Cognitive Services for Speech, is a great way to create a highly natural synthetic voice that sounds almost identical to your voice actor. This synthetic voice can then be used in a variety of different scenarios including audiobooks, language learning, reading news content and many more. Since its launch, Custom Neural Voice has empowered organizations such as AT&T, Duolingo, Progressive, and Swisscom to develop branded speech solutions that delight users. (For more details, read the Innovation Stories blog).
Microsoft has made it simple to train a professional custom neural voice by using a small set of recordings from the target voice (from 300 to 2,000 sentences or short phrases, which is about 30 minutes to 3 hours of speech data). However, the studio recording process takes time and many customers are looking for a way to try the voice customization capability more easily.
Today we are glad to introduce Custom Neural Voice Lite, a new feature in public preview, which enables users to clone their voice by recording just 5 minutes of speech data. This new feature makes it extremely easy for customers to create a synthetic voice that sounds natural.
Custom Neural Voice Lite
Custom Neural Voice (CNV) now supports two project types, Pro and Lite. The Pro version is best for professional scenarios like brand and character voices for chat bots, or audio content reading. In this blog, we provide detailed instructions on how to create a professional custom neural voice. The new Lite version is best for producing quick demos or creating personal voice clones.
Due to the sensitivity of the technology, we have limited the access and use of Custom Neural Voice. However, every customer with a valid Azure Speech resource can create CNV Lite voices by recording their own voice for evaluation purposes. After creating a CNV Lite voice, the customer must submit an application with their use case to gain full access to the Custom Neural Voice capability before they can use the voice for business scenarios.
The following table summarizes the key differences between the CNV Pro and CNV Lite project types.
Items | Lite (Preview) | Pro |
Target scenarios | Demonstration or evaluation | Professional scenarios like brand and character voices for chat bots, or audio content reading |
Training data | Record online from your own computer using Speech Studio | Bring your own data. Recording in a professional studio is recommended. |
Scripts for recording | Provided in Speech Studio | Use your own scripts that match the use case scenario. Microsoft provides example scripts for reference. |
Required data size | 20-50 utterances | 300-2,000 utterances |
Training time | Less than 1 compute hour | Approximately 20-40 compute hours |
Voice quality | Moderate quality | High quality |
Availability | Anyone can record samples online and train a model for demo and evaluation purpose. Full access to Custom Neural Voice is required if you want to deploy the CNV Lite model for business use. | Data upload is not restricted, but you can only train and deploy a CNV Pro model after access is approved. CNV Pro access is limited based on eligibility and usage criteria. Request access on the intake form. |
Pricing | Per unit prices apply equally for both the CNV Lite and CNV Pro projects. Check the pricing details here. | Per unit prices apply equally for both the CNV Lite and CNV Pro projects. Check the pricing details here. |
To get an idea of how a Lite voice sounds like, check the samples below.
Language | Human recording | TTS (CNV Lite) |
English | ||
Chinese |
How it works
A Speech service resource is required before you can create a Custom Neural Voice project. If you do not have a Speech resource in Azure, follow these instructions to create one. Make sure you select one of these regions for your resource – East US, Southeast Asia, or UK South where Custom Neural Voice training is supported. Select S0 for the pricing tier. Free tiers are not available for Custom Neural Voice.
To build your CNV Lite voice, go to Speech Studio. Log in with the right Speech resource selected. Then click on the ‘Custom Voice’ tile and select to create a Custom Neural Voice Lite project. CNV Lite now supports English and Chinese (Mandarin).
Once the project is successfully created, you can start to build your voice. Before you move forward, make sure you read and understand the Voice Talent Terms of Use, and provide your agreement for Microsoft Speech Studio to collect your voice data (at this step, for evaluation purpose). To protect each user’s voice identity, the Lite project will be removed within 90 days if your company does not have its business use case approved by Microsoft (check the limited access policy), or the voice talent whose data is used for training does not provide explicit agreement for using his/her voice to generate synthetic speech outside of the evaluation purpose (check the voice talent disclosure requirement).
Once you have accepted the terms of use, you can start to record your voice samples. Read the recording instructions carefully. The quality of your recording data is critical to the training output. Check your environmental noise and do not record if noises are detected.
Tips for recording:
- Increase the clarity of your samples by using a high-quality microphone. Speak about 8 inches away from the microphone to avoid mouth noises.
- Relax and speak naturally. Allow yourself to express emotions as you read the sentences.
- To keep a consistent energy level, record all sentences in one session.
- Pronounce each word correctly and speak clearly. After recording each sample, check its quality metric before continuing to the next one.
- Although you can create a model with just 20 samples, it’s recommended that you record up to 50 to get better quality.
After each sample is recorded, double check the audio quality before you click to record the next. Several metrics are provided to help you review the quality, enabled with the pronunciation assessment technology.
As shown in the screenshot below, mispronunciations are automatically detected on each audio. It’s recommended that you make sure your recorded audio is green with accepted quality.
- “Clearness” indicates the speech signal against the noise. You get a higher clearness score if the noise level is lower.
- “Pronunciation” shows the accuracy of your pronunciation at the sentence level. You should make sure you pronounce each word correctly with no omission or insertion.
- “Volume” of your voice in the recording should be kept stable. Don’t speak too far or too close to your mic. An audio that’s too loud or too low volume is not acceptable.
After you have recorded at least 20 samples, and checked the quality is all good, you can click the ‘Train model’ button at the bottom of the page to start your voice training. It’s estimated that each training takes about 40 minutes. Check the pricing page to get an idea of the cost before you hit ‘Create’.
Once the model is successfully created, you can listen to the sample output for demo and evaluation purpose.
To deploy your voice model and use it in your applications, you must get full access to Custom Neural Voice and explicit consent from your voice talent. You can submit a request form here. For guidance on applying for Custom Neural Voice, you can watch this short video. With the full access approved, you can get your CNV Lite voice integrated with your apps, or move to create a CNV Pro project with professional studio recordings for an even more natural voice. Check this blog for the instructions to create a high-quality professional voice.
Learn more
We are excited about the future of Neural TTS with human like, diverse and delightful quality under the high-level architecture of XYZ-Code AI framework. Our technology advancements are also guided by Microsoft’s Responsible AI process, and our principles of fairness, inclusiveness, reliability & safety, transparency, privacy & security, and accountability. We put these ethical standards into practice through the Office of Responsible AI (ORA), which sets our rules and governance processes, the AI, Ethics, and Effects in Engineering and Research (Aether) Committee, which advises our leadership on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI innovations, and Responsible AI Strategy in Engineering (RAISE), a team that enables the implementation of Microsoft responsible AI rules across engineering groups.
Besides the Custom Neural Voice capability, you can also select a prebuilt voice from a rich portfolio that offers over 330 neural voice options across 129 languages and variants.
Get started with Azure Neural TTS:
- Try the demo
- See our documentation
- Check out our sample code
Learn more about Responsible Use of Custom Neural Voice/Guidelines/Terms
Where can I find the transparency note and use cases for Azure Custom Neural Voice?
Where can I find Microsoft’s general design guidelines for using synthetic voice technology?
Where can I find information about disclosure for voice talent?
Where can I find disclosure information on design guidelines?
Where can I find disclosure information on design patterns?
Where can I find Microsoft’s code of conduct for text-to-speech integrations?
Where can I find information on data, privacy and security for Azure Custom Neural Voice?
Where can I find information on limited access to Azure Custom Neural Voice?
Where can I find licensing resources on Azure Custom Neural Voice?
Watch how to improve on-the-job guidance with mixed reality
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Traditional guidance or upskilling usually requires a trained trainer, a trainee, some mix of resources like work instructions, parts manuals, or checklists, and a real-world or simulated task to perform. In this scenario, a skilled worker (the trained trainer) guides the trainee through the job until they have mastered the process and can work alone. This process is called on-the-job guidance, and while it has been effective in supporting workforce development for decades, it has always been challenging from a resource and scale perspective.
Over the past decade, however, organizations across industries have engaged in digital transformation, leveraging advances in technology to reimagine business processes to make them more effective and efficient. This is what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides is all about, including its application in training and development to empower employees with step-by-step holographic instructions right where the work happens. This article highlights three ways to use Dynamics 365 Guides to improve the employee experience.
1. Empower self-guided learning
One of the key benefits of utilizing mixed reality applications is that it frees the trainer from the trainee. For example, a trainer can develop a digital process guide that any number of trainees can then utilize without requiring the trainer to be physically present. This empowers workers to embark on self-guided learning by equipping them with task instructions, essential data, and model visualizations directly in the flow of work. The result is increased efficiency from a resource perspective and improved productivity, quality, and safety from the worker’s perspective.
The idea of self-guided learning is nothing new; in mixed reality, though, self-guided learning is dramatically improved by delivering information where and when it is needed in the training process. For example, in the following video, we see how Dynamics 365 Guides allows for self-guided learning that keeps workers in the flow of work by moving with them, directing attention to the next step, and providing the information needed every step of the way.
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Learn more in our overview of Dynamics 365 Guides.
Similar scenarios unfold thousands of times per day in manufacturing plants around the world. From the machinist securing a part in a multi-axis lathe who needs to check a read-out on a gauge to the repair technician working on a new piece of equipment, when workers can always access a virtual library of parts manuals and assembly instructions wherever they are, they can stay in the flow of work longer. This is one reason that Forrester found that mixed reality improved field task efficiency by 40 percent and reduced rework by 7 percent, saving $13,680 annually per field task worker.1
2. Embrace mixed reality
As shown in the video below, Dynamics 365 Guides works by overlaying 3D visualizations and holograms alongside connected work instructions and reference materials in a real-world environment, all without sacrificing autonomy or range of movement. Plus, Dynamics 365 Guides also allows anyone to create new guides with low-code/no-code authoring so that your organization can respond quickly and efficiently to new training needs. In this short video clip, you can see how authoring steps taken on a PC, automatically align to a hologram placed in the work environment.
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3. Enable hands-free triggers
In addition to providing frontline workers with immersive instructions, Dynamics 365 Guides also allows action-activated triggers to mimic real-world actions. For example, HoloLens 2 can track worker hand movements and automate guidance based on where a worker’s hands are located in the process. This is demonstrated in the video below. When the worker completes a task, such as tightening a bolt or screw, the worker is automatically shown a holographic prompt directing them to the next step in the process. This helps build muscle memory and improves the learning process.
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Not only do hands-free triggers keep workers in the flow of work longer, but they are also more accurate than asking a coworker what to do next, which may or may not yield the correct answer, and more efficient than referring to traditional work instructions, which breaks the concentration on the task at hand. Moreover, enabling hands-free triggers, either with hand tracking or voice activation, improves process safety, particularly in industries like manufacturing, where significant amounts of rotating machinery are found.
What’s next?
This article shows that embracing mixed reality, empowering self-guided learning, and enabling hands-free triggers are three ways to transform on-the-job guidance. We’ve also published videos that explore how intuitive placing and working with holograms can be, features for hands-free work, and a look at the level of detail you can accomplish with Dynamics 365 Guides. If you are ready to start empowering your frontline workers today, we invite you to get started with a free 60-day trial of Dynamics 365 Guides. Or to learn more, check out our learning path, Work with Dynamics 365 Guides.
1Forrester, 2021. The Total Economic Impact Of Mixed Reality Using Microsoft HoloLens 2.
The post Watch how to improve on-the-job guidance with mixed reality appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.
Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
Mitigating Attacks Against Uninterruptable Power Supply Devices
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
CISA and the Department of Energy (DOE) are aware of threat actors gaining access to a variety of internet-connected uninterruptable power supply (UPS) devices, often through unchanged default usernames and passwords. Organizations can mitigate attacks against their UPS devices, which provide emergency power in a variety of applications when normal power sources are lost, by removing management interfaces from the internet.
Organizations can mitigate attacks against UPS devices by immediately removing management interfaces from the internet. Review CISA and DOE’s guidance on mitigating attacks against UPS devices for additional mitigations and information.
Guarantee capacity access with on-demand capacity reservations—now available
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Today we are announcing the general availability of on demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines. This new feature allows you to deploy and manage the compute capacity required to run Azure VMs separately from the VMs themselves.
On-demand capacity reservations create new options for you to better manage your compute capacity needs. During our discussions with Azure customers, they often identify the following scenarios:
- Business-critical applications — use on-demand capacity reservations to protect their capacity, for example when taking these VMs offline to perform updates.
- Disaster recovery (DR) — set aside compute capacity to ensure a seamless recovery in the event of a natural disaster. The compute capacity can be repurposed to run other workloads whenever DR is not in effect. The VM maintenance can be handled by keeping core images up to date without the need to deploy or maintain VMs outside of DR testing.
- Special events—claiming capacity ahead of time provides assurance that your business can handle the extra demand.
On demand capacity reservations come with a capacity SLA. Unused reserved capacity and Virtual Machines using reserved capacity are both eligible for Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instance term discounts. However, Reserved VM Instances and on-demand capacity reservations are very different and offer two separate sets of benefits captured in the table below:
Additional Azure services are integrating with on-demand capacity reservations. The Azure Site Recovery service has public preview support for attaching reserved capacity for DR purposes.
Existing and future capabilities
The number of Azure Virtual Machines series and sizes supported has increased since the start of the public preview.
Specifically, the following Azure Virtual Machines series are now supported:
- Burstable (B-series VMs)
- General-purpose VMs (Av2, Dv2-series VMs and newer generations including Dv5 and Dasv5-series VMs, including support for both Intel and AMD-based VM sizes)
- Memory-optimized VMs (Ev3-series VMs and newer generations including Ev5 and Easv5-series VMs; both Intel and AMD-based VM sizes)
- Compute-optimized VMs (Fv1-series VMs and newer generations)
Microsoft is finalizing support for additional Azure Virtual Machines series. At this time, we expect previews in Q2/Q3 2022, followed by general availability, for the following VM series:
- Storage optimized VMs (L-series)
- Additional memory-optimized VMs (M-series)
- GPU-enabled VMs (NC-series and NV-series)
Azure also offers VM series using InfiniBand networking: ND, HB, and HC VM series. These series will be supported in the future.
The VM deployment methods supported with on demand capacity reservations during public preview are now supported with general availability: single VMs and Virtual Machine Scale Sets using uniform orchestration mode. Starting today, on-demand capacity reservations for Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode is in public preview. Please read the documentation to learn more.
Additional Azure services will provide on-demand capacity reservations. For example, Azure Site Recovery has enabled public preview use of reserved capacity for disaster recovery. The Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) has also released preview support to associate node pools with reserved capacity.
Resources to get started
There are two demonstration videos currently available:
- Basic feature operation and use with single VM deployments.
- Detailed feature operation and integration with Virtual Machine Scale Sets.
Additionally, you can read the on demand capacity reservation documentation that includes sample code.
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