The Voice of Siri Finally Steps Out From Behind the iPhone

Siri finally has a face.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Atlanta-based voice actor Susan Bennett has come forward to confirm that she is voice of Siri.

"I wasn't sure I wanted the notoriety," she told CNN on why she never came forward before now. She recorded quotes for the assistant for ScanSoft in 2005 but Apple didn't acquire the company until 2010, shortly before the release of Siri.

However, when Bennett recorded the voice, she wasn't exactly sure what the purpose would be, and has not been acknowledged by Apple as having voiced Siri. Back in June of 2005, Bennett signed a contract with ScanSoft, offering her work to do voice recording that would be used in data to construct speech for various devices.

For four hours a day, Bennett recorded various words and phrases, and the vowels, words, and syllables were pulled out in a process called concatenation. This allows the engineers behind data voices like Siri to play with the pitch and speed of the voice recordings, constructing original sentences, phrases and even paragraphs out of unlinked words and syllables.  

After reading an article on The Verge about the science behind making computers talk, Bennett was inspired to put her best foot forward and reveal that she is the voice behind Siri. "When I first discovered that was my voice, to be honest it was a little creepy," she says.

The claims aren't just based on Bennett though, as CNN hired an audio forensic expert to compare Bennett's voice with Siri. After analyzing the audio recordings of Siri and Bennett's own speaking voice, the voice expert confirmed that the two were one in the same.

"I believe, and I've lived this for 30 years, no two voices are the same," he said, after finishing his analysis of the Siri voice and Bennett's. "They are identical—a 100-percent match." 

While this information likely won't change how you use your iPhone, it's certainly interesting to match a face and a name to such a famous voice, particularly when today marks the two-year anniversary of the release of the Siri. However, the release of iOS 7 shifts the focus away from Bennett's voice a bit, as the new operating system allows users to choose a male voice for Siri.

Still, given Siri's prominence in pop culture, its unlikely that Bennett's attitude-laden Siri rendition will be going away anytime soon.

[via CNN]

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