TTS: How to convert text into SSML?

Question

My goal is to let the device speaking a text with a human voice. So I am using the Text-to-Speech API from Google.

This is how my code looks like:

package ch.yourclick.kitt;

import android.media.MediaPlayer;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.StrictMode;
import android.view.View;

import androidx.annotation.RequiresApi;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.viewpager.widget.ViewPager;

import com.google.android.material.floatingactionbutton.FloatingActionButton;
import com.google.android.material.snackbar.Snackbar;
import com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout;
import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.AudioConfig;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.AudioEncoding;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SsmlVoiceGender;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SynthesisInput;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SynthesizeSpeechResponse;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.TextToSpeechClient;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.TextToSpeechSettings;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.VoiceSelectionParams;
import com.google.common.html.HtmlEscapers;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

import ch.yourclick.kitt.ui.main.SectionsPagerAdapter;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        SectionsPagerAdapter sectionsPagerAdapter = new SectionsPagerAdapter(this, getSupportFragmentManager());
        ViewPager viewPager = findViewById(R.id.view_pager);
        viewPager.setAdapter(sectionsPagerAdapter);
        TabLayout tabs = findViewById(R.id.tabs);
        tabs.setupWithViewPager(viewPager);
        FloatingActionButton fab = findViewById(R.id.fab);

        fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                Snackbar.make(view, "Replace with your own action", Snackbar.LENGTH_LONG)
                        .setAction("Action", null).show();
            }
        });
    }


    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
    @Override
    public void onClick(View view) {
        int SDK_INT = android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;
        if (SDK_INT > 8)
        {
            StrictMode.ThreadPolicy policy = new StrictMode.ThreadPolicy.Builder()
                    .permitAll().build();
            StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(policy);

            try {
                this.hello();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }

        }
    }

    /** Demonstrates using the Text-to-Speech API. */
    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT)
    public void hello() throws Exception {
        InputStream stream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.credential); // R.raw.credential is credential.json
        GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.fromStream(stream);
        TextToSpeechSettings textToSpeechSettings =
                TextToSpeechSettings.newBuilder()
                        .setCredentialsProvider(
                                FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credentials)
                        ).build()
                ;

        // Instantiates a client
        try (TextToSpeechClient textToSpeechClient = TextToSpeechClient.create(textToSpeechSettings)) {

            // Set the text input to be synthesized
            SynthesisInput input = SynthesisInput.newBuilder().setText("<speak>Step 1, take a deep breath. <break time=\"2000ms\"/> Hello?</speak>").build();

            // Build the voice request, select the language code ("en-US") and the ssml voice gender
            // ("neutral")
            VoiceSelectionParams voice =
                    VoiceSelectionParams.newBuilder()
                            .setLanguageCode("en-US")
                            .setSsmlGender(SsmlVoiceGender.NEUTRAL)
                            .build();

            // Select the type of audio file you want returned
            AudioConfig audioConfig =
                    AudioConfig.newBuilder().setAudioEncoding(AudioEncoding.MP3).build();

            // Perform the text-to-speech request on the text input with the selected voice parameters and
            // audio file type
            SynthesizeSpeechResponse response = textToSpeechClient.synthesizeSpeech(input, voice, audioConfig);

            // Get the audio contents from the response
            ByteString audioContents = response.getAudioContent();

            // Write the response to the output file.
            try (FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(getFilesDir() + "/output.mp3")) {
                System.out.println(getFilesDir());
                out.write(audioContents.toByteArray());
                System.out.println("Audio content written to file \"output.mp3\"");
            }

            String myFile = getFilesDir() + "/output.mp3";
            MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer();
            mediaPlayer.setDataSource(myFile);
            mediaPlayer.prepare();
            mediaPlayer.start();
        }
    }

}

As you see in the code, the text should be "Step 1, take a deep breath. Step 2 ... hello? Are you there?"

Well, I get audio but it doesn't sound natural and it starts with saying "Less than speak ...", which is not the point.

It is probably not working, because I will need to convert that plaintext into SSML. But well, how can I do this?

I am using Android Studio.

---

Update

The following method should work fine:

public static String textToSsml(String inputFile) throws Exception {

  // Read lines of input file
  String rawLines = new String(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(inputFile)));

  // Replace special characters with HTML Ampersand Character Codes
  // These codes prevent the API from confusing text with SSML tags
  // For example, '<' --> '&lt;' and '&' --> '&amp;'
  String escapedLines = HtmlEscapers.htmlEscaper().escape(rawLines);

  // Convert plaintext to SSML
  // Tag SSML so that there is a 2 second pause between each address
  String expandedNewline = escapedLines.replaceAll("\\n", "\n<break time='2s'/>");
  String ssml = "<speak>" + expandedNewline + "</speak>";

  // Return the concatenated String of SSML
  return ssml;
}

Reference: https://cloud.google.com/text-to-speech/docs/ssml-tutorial?hl=en#personalizing_synthetic_audio

I have still no idea how to use this method. But this what I have tried:

package ch.yourclick.kitt;

import android.media.MediaPlayer;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.StrictMode;
import android.view.View;

import androidx.annotation.RequiresApi;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.viewpager.widget.ViewPager;

import com.google.android.material.floatingactionbutton.FloatingActionButton;
import com.google.android.material.snackbar.Snackbar;
import com.google.android.material.tabs.TabLayout;
import com.google.api.gax.core.FixedCredentialsProvider;
import com.google.auth.oauth2.GoogleCredentials;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.AudioConfig;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.AudioEncoding;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SsmlVoiceGender;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SynthesisInput;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.SynthesizeSpeechResponse;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.TextToSpeechClient;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.TextToSpeechSettings;
import com.google.cloud.texttospeech.v1.VoiceSelectionParams;
import com.google.common.html.HtmlEscapers;
import com.google.protobuf.ByteString;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

import ch.yourclick.kitt.ui.main.SectionsPagerAdapter;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        SectionsPagerAdapter sectionsPagerAdapter = new SectionsPagerAdapter(this, getSupportFragmentManager());
        ViewPager viewPager = findViewById(R.id.view_pager);
        viewPager.setAdapter(sectionsPagerAdapter);
        TabLayout tabs = findViewById(R.id.tabs);
        tabs.setupWithViewPager(viewPager);
        FloatingActionButton fab = findViewById(R.id.fab);

        fab.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View view) {
                Snackbar.make(view, "Replace with your own action", Snackbar.LENGTH_LONG)
                        .setAction("Action", null).show();
            }
        });
    }


    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP)
    @Override
    public void onClick(View view) {
        int SDK_INT = android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT;
        if (SDK_INT > 8)
        {
            StrictMode.ThreadPolicy policy = new StrictMode.ThreadPolicy.Builder()
                    .permitAll().build();
            StrictMode.setThreadPolicy(policy);

            try {
                this.hello();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }

        }
    }

    /** Demonstrates using the Text-to-Speech API. */
    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.KITKAT)
    public void hello() throws Exception {
        InputStream stream = getResources().openRawResource(R.raw.credential); // R.raw.credential is credential.json
        GoogleCredentials credentials = GoogleCredentials.fromStream(stream);
        TextToSpeechSettings textToSpeechSettings =
                TextToSpeechSettings.newBuilder()
                        .setCredentialsProvider(
                                FixedCredentialsProvider.create(credentials)
                        ).build()
                ;

        // Instantiates a client
        try (TextToSpeechClient textToSpeechClient = TextToSpeechClient.create(textToSpeechSettings)) {

            // Set the text input to be synthesized
            SynthesisInput input = SynthesisInput.newBuilder().setText("Step 1 \n take a deep breath").build();

            // Build the voice request, select the language code ("en-US") and the ssml voice gender
            // ("neutral")
            VoiceSelectionParams voice =
                    VoiceSelectionParams.newBuilder()
                            .setLanguageCode("en-US")
                            .setSsmlGender(SsmlVoiceGender.NEUTRAL)
                            .build();

            // Select the type of audio file you want returned
            AudioConfig audioConfig =
                    AudioConfig.newBuilder().setAudioEncoding(AudioEncoding.MP3).build();

            // Perform the text-to-speech request on the text input with the selected voice parameters and
            // audio file type
            SynthesizeSpeechResponse response = textToSpeechClient.synthesizeSpeech(input, voice, audioConfig);

            // Get the audio contents from the response
            ByteString audioContents = response.getAudioContent();


            // Write the response to the output file.
            try (FileOutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(getFilesDir() + "/output.mp3")) {
                System.out.println(getFilesDir());
                out.write(audioContents.toByteArray());
                System.out.println("Audio content written to file \"output.mp3\"");
            }

            String myFile = getFilesDir() + "/output.mp3";
            MediaPlayer mediaPlayer = new MediaPlayer();
            mediaPlayer.setDataSource(myFile);
            mediaPlayer.prepare();
            mediaPlayer.start();

            if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
                textToSsml(getFilesDir() + "/output.mp3");
            }
        }
    }

    @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
    public static String textToSsml(String inputFile) throws Exception {

        // Read lines of input file
        String rawLines = new String(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(inputFile)));

        // Replace special characters with HTML Ampersand Character Codes
        // These codes prevent the API from confusing text with SSML tags
        // For example, '<' --> '&lt;' and '&' --> '&amp;'
        String escapedLines = HtmlEscapers.htmlEscaper().escape(rawLines);

        // Convert plaintext to SSML
        // Tag SSML so that there is a 2 second pause between each address
        String expandedNewline = escapedLines.replaceAll("\\n", "\n<break time='2s'/>");
        String ssml = "<speak>" + expandedNewline + "</speak>";

        // Return the concatenated String of SSML
        return ssml;
    }

}

Well, the goal is that the audio will be: "Step 1" (wait for 2 seconds) "take a deep breath" But in my case the output is "Step 1 take a deep breath", so the pause of 2 seconds is missing. What am I doing wrong?

Filing

Why are you calling your textToSSML only while creating your mp3 filename. That should be the text feeding to the Google function? – Unsettle

@MorrisonChang since TTS works in my method hello() and after the MP3 file has been created, I pass that file to textToSsml(). – Filing

Answer 1

You say, "It is probably not working, because I will need to convert that plaintext into SSML."

But this is incorrect. It already "is" ssml because it contains ssml tags.

In your original code, you define your input like this:

SynthesisInput input = SynthesisInput.newBuilder().setText("<speak>Step 1, take a deep breath. <break time=\"2000ms\"/> Hello?</speak>").build();

The String is "<speak>Step 1, take a deep breath. <break time="2000ms"/> Hello?</speak>"

The term "plain text" is confusing matters.

It is a String which is a string of characters. The question is how is it intended to be interpreted.

Google needs to know whether to interpret this String as plain text, or as some other "markup language" such as ssml.

In order to tell Google that the String you're uploading should be interpretted as ssml, you have to use the setSsml method.

However, you didn't use the setSsml method, so Google did not interpret this String as ssml.

Try this:

String myString = "<speak>Step 1, take a deep breath. <break time=\"2000ms\"/> Hello?</speak>"

SynthesisInput input = SynthesisInput.newBuilder().setSsml(myString).build();

Boggle

Answer 2

you would want to first speak the 'step 1' then use thread.sleep(2000); then speak 'take a deep breath'

Kutchins

The breaktime was just an example. I want to use SSML only. E.g.: <say-as interpret-as="date" format="yyyymmdd" detail="1">1960-09-10</say-as> ... then the output should be: The 10th of September 1960 – Filing