Plans For Synthetic Reo Māori Voice To Empower Tāngata Whaikaha Māori

Experts are sounding out plans for a synthetic reo Māori voice that could change the lives of many tāngata whaikaha Māori and their whānau.

Wahanga Tū Kōrero - TalkLink Trust ambassador Geneva Hakaraia-Tino of Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri and Ngāti Awa

The voice would be available as an option beside English for people who use assistive technology devices to communicate.

For Geneva Hakaraia-Tino, who has athetoid cerebral palsy and is non-speaking, the current gap means not being able to communicate accurately in te reo Māori – leaving out a big chunk of who she is.

Geneva, of Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri and Ngāti Awa, has studied reo Māori and wants to express herself using the language, but her device lacks the ability to pronounce the kupu.

With support from Te Puni Kōkiri, the Tua o te Pae team from Wahanga Tū Kōrero - The TalkLink Trust and Te Hiku Media will undertake a feasibility study from June to September 2023. The study will explore the technical requirements required to generate te reo Māori voice for assistive technology devices.

Geneva, as a Wahanga Tū Kōrero - TalkLink Trust ambassador, said exploring the opportunity of creating a dataset that would deliver text-to-voice technology for te reo Māori could help enable Māori whaikaha to participate in Te Ao Māori more fully. The project could potentially help thousands of tāngata whaikaha and their whānau.

Te Puni Kōkiri Investment Director Karen McGuinness said supporting the growth of a healthy and vibrant Te Reo Māori me ōna tikanga was a key focus for the organisation.

It also enhances the Government’s Maihi Karauna strategy, which aims to have 1 million New Zealanders speaking (at least) basic Te Reo Māori by 2040.

“We want to see te reo Māori thrive as a living language with people across the motu.

“This means that it is valued, learned, and used by Aotearoa whānui in a full range of contexts and environments.”

Te Puni Kokiri will look to work closely with other key agencies to support funding for phase two of the project, developing the voice.

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