07.07.2022

THE SOCIAL PROTECTION FUND FINANCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BULGARIAN SPEECH SYNTHESIZER FOR PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS

The "Social Protection" Fund of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy supported with BGN 364,800 a project for "Development of a Bulgarian speech synthesizer for the needs of people with visual impairments" of the Association "Union of the Blind in Bulgaria". Its total budget is BGN 384,000, and the Association's own contribution is BGN 19,200. It is expected that the synthesizer will help more than 4,000 people with visual impairments throughout Bulgaria. It was implemented with the help of the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at the BAS.

The speech synthesizer speaks text fed to it with a computer-generated voice. Its use creates opportunities to increase the education and knowledge of people with visual impairments and promotes their social inclusion and employment. The last Bulgarian-speaking synthesizer was created in 2004 and no longer meets the level of technology development in this field.

"The implementation of the project is a successful example of a partnership between a state institution, a nationally representative organization and the scientific community. It incorporates the latest achievements of science in the field," said Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Policy Lazar Lazarov at the presentation of the synthesizer. He emphasized the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability, pointing out that BGN 24 million has been set aside in it to support more than 3,300 people with permanent disabilities through the use of technologies to improve their lives.

"The Social Protection Fund proves once again that it aims to promote innovative projects that support a wide range of people," said the executive director of the fund, Marina Saradinova.