Patent Publication Number: US-2022230374-A1

Title: User interface for generating expressive content

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/347,653, filed Nov. 9, 2016, which is incorporated herewith by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) includes forms of communication other than oral speech that are used to express thoughts, needs, wants, or ideas. An individual may rely on an AAC system as an aid to communicate when the individual is not able to communicate orally, for example, due to a speech disability. Some AAC systems are operative to synthesize speech from the individual&#39;s input. 
     Conveying emotions, attitude, or tone through speech is oftentimes dependent on non-verbal communicative features, such as gestures and speech prosody; however, current speech-generating AAC systems do not support conveyance of non-verbal information, and generally only provide users with a text-to-speech engine and voice fonts that synthesize a single flat tone of speech that is mostly devoid of emotion and expressivity regardless of the input text that the AAC user is intending to convey. For example, synthesized speech generated from an AAC user&#39;s input may sound robotic and lack volume and vocal inflection, which makes it difficult for the AAC user to effectively communicate in a way that represents the user&#39;s internal voice. As can be appreciated, this can negatively impact AAC users&#39; quality of life, specifically in their interactions with other individuals. 
     Oftentimes, to try to convey emotion or expressivity, an AAC user will type and speak an additional explanatory phrase, such as “I am angry” before typing and speaking the phrase that the user intended to speak originally. As can be appreciated, this is inefficient and can present a significant burden to AAC users, particularly when using gaze-based text entry, for which AAC users have a typical text entry rate of between 10-20 words per minute. 
     SUMMARY 
     This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description section. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
     Aspects are directed to an automated system, method, and device for generating expressive content. By employing aspects of the present disclosure, an improved user experience is provided, where a user is enabled to efficiently and effectively compose expressive content, such as prosody-enhanced speech, sound effects, or visual effects, using voicesetting editing. 
     An expressive synthesized speech system provides an expressive keyboard for enabling the user to input textual content and for selecting expressive operators, such as emoji objects or punctuation objects for applying predetermined prosody attributes, sound effects, or visual effects to the user&#39;s textual content. In some examples, the user may selectively enter a voicesetting editor mode, where a voicesetting editor UI is displayed for enabling the user to author or adjust particular prosody attributes associated with the user&#39;s content. In some examples, an active listening mode is provided. When the user selects to launch the active listening mode, a set of active listening mode effect options are displayed, wherein each effect option is associated with a particular sound effect and/or visual effect. In conversations, the user is enabled to easily and rapidly respond with expressive vocal sound effects or visual effects while listening to others speak. Because the user does not have to type and speak additional explanatory phrases to communicate emotions or expressivity, fewer processing resources are expended to provide input to the expressive synthesized speech system, and the functionality of the computing device used to provide the expressive synthesized speech system is thereby expanded and improved. 
     Examples are implemented as a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a device, computer program product, or computer readable media. According to an aspect, the computer program product is a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. 
     The details of one or more aspects are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that the following detailed description is explanatory only and is not restrictive of the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various aspects. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example operating environment including components of an expressive synthesized speech system for generating expressive content; 
         FIG. 2A  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of an expressive synthesized speech system showing an expressive keyboard including selectable punctuation objects; 
         FIG. 2B  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing a selection of an active listening mode (ALM); 
         FIG. 2C  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing a plurality of selectable ALM effect options; 
         FIG. 2D  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing an example communication between a user and a conversation partner, wherein the user is enabled to use the ALM to provide feedback; 
         FIGS. 2E-2I  are illustrations of example user interface displays generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing examples of visual effects/output corresponding to various ALM effect options; 
         FIG. 2J  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing various example selectable emoji objects; 
         FIGS. 2K-2P  are illustrations of example user interface displays generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing examples of visual effects/output corresponding to various emoji objects; 
         FIG. 3A  is an illustration of an example user interface display generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system showing a selection to utilize the voicesetting editor; 
         FIGS. 3B-3G  are illustrations of example voicesetting editor user interface displays generated by aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system; 
         FIG. 4A  is a flow chart showing general stages involved in an example method for generating expressive content; 
         FIG. 4B  is a flow chart showing general stages involved in another example method for generating expressive content; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating example physical components of a computing device; 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are block diagrams of a mobile computing device; and 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a distributed computing system. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description refers to the same or similar elements. While examples may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description is not limiting, but instead, the proper scope is defined by the appended claims. Examples may take the form of a hardware implementation, or an entirely software implementation, or an implementation combining software and hardware aspects. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. 
     Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a method, system, and computer storage media for providing intuitive synthesized speech-authoring user interface for generating expressive content. While many of the examples described herein are directed to generating expressive content in an alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) system, as should be appreciated, aspects are equally applicable in a variety of alternative use cases and systems. For example in addition to providing synthesized speech-authoring user interfaces to users who are reliant on an AAC system to generate content, such as users who have communication challenges stemming from severe motor disabilities, synthesized speech-authoring user interfaces may also be used for authoring or marking up documents that are to be rendered to audio by automated or semi-automated means (e.g., marking up a print edition book to be rendered to an audio book, authoring a document to be rendered by a screen reader program, authoring content in a web-based communication service, and authoring content that is to be read aloud by learning tool systems). With reference now to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of an example operating environment  100  illustrating aspects of an example expressive synthesized speech system  108  for generating expressive content is shown. The expressive synthesized speech system  108  is operative to provide improved synthesized speech-authoring user interfaces via which a user  104  is enabled to efficiently and effectively author content for generating expressive output, such as prosody-enhanced speech, sound effects, and visual effects. For example, prosody-enhanced speech includes speech that comprises variables of timing, phrasing, emphasis, and intonation that speakers use to help convey aspects of meaning and to make speech lively. 
     The example operating environment  100  includes an electronic computing device  102 . The computing device  102  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is illustrated as a tablet computing device; however, as should be appreciated, the computing device  102  may be one of various types of computing devices (e.g., a tablet computing device, a desktop computer, a mobile communication device, a laptop computer, a laptop/tablet hybrid computing device, a large screen multi-touch display, a gaming device, a smart television, a wearable device, or other type of computing device) for executing applications for performing a variety of tasks. The hardware of these computing devices is discussed in greater detail in regard to  FIGS. 5, 6A, 6B, and 7 . 
     According to aspects, the user  104  utilizes the computing device  102  for executing the expressive synthesized speech system  108 , which in association with a text-to-speech engine (i.e., speech generation engine  118 ), generates expressive synthesized speech from the user&#39;s input. The computing device  102  includes or is in communication with the expressive synthesized speech system  108 . In one example, the computing device  102  includes an expressive synthesized speech application programming interface (API), operative to enable an application executing on the computing device to employ the systems and methods of the present disclosure via stored instructions. 
     In examples, the synthesized speech system  108  is operative to receive input (e.g., text input, mode selections, on-screen object selections, and prosody cue input) from a user-controlled input device  106  via various input methods, such as those relying on mice, keyboards, and remote controls, as well as Natural User Interface (NUI) methods, which enable a user to interact with the computing device  102  in a “natural” manner, such as via technologies including touch sensitive displays, voice and speech recognition, intention and goal understanding, motion gesture detection using depth cameras, motion gesture detection using accelerometers/gyroscopes, facial recognition, 3D displays, head, eye, and gaze tracking, immersive augmented reality and virtual reality systems, all of which provide a more natural interface, as well as technologies for sensing brain activity using electric field sensing electrodes (EEG and related methods). In specific examples, the user  104  uses gaze-based input methods or head mouse input methods, which are typically used by individuals who have communication challenges stemming from paralysis or severe motor disabilities, such as people who have advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 
     Aspects of the expressive synthesized speech system  108  generate and provide a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user  104  to interact with functionality of the expressive synthesized speech system  108 . According to examples, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  comprises an expressive keyboard UI engine  110 , illustrative of a software module, system, or device operative to generate a GUI display of an expressive keyboard. According to one aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  provides a keyboard that extends an on-screen keyboard, which is used to input text for speech synthesis, by providing a set of selectable icons or emoji objects that can be selectively inserted into the user&#39;s text. Each emoji object illustrates a particular emotion (e.g., sad, calm, happy, funny, sarcastic, surprised, irritated, angry), and is associated with a predefined operation or operations that can change the tone of voice of the user&#39;s text to a specified emotional state (e.g., sad, calm, happy, funny, sarcastic, surprised, irritated, angry). For example, certain prosodic attributes are applied to the user&#39;s text based on the selected emoji object. According to one example, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  is operative to apply a tone and emotion of output speech corresponding to a selected emoji object at a sentence level. According to an aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to intelligently display a set of emoji objects on the expressive keyboard, for example, based on linguistic properties of the user&#39;s textual input or based on a recognized emotional state of the user detected via a sensor (e.g., biometric sensors, facial expression sensors, body posture sensors, gesture sensors). For example, the set of emoji objects may include emoji objects associated with an emotion corresponding to the user&#39;s recognized emotional state. In some examples, one or more emoji objects are associated with a vocal sound effect (e.g., laughter, sarcastic scoff, sharp breath in, grunt, sigh, or a disgusted “ugh” sound). When the user  104  selectively inserts an emoji object, a corresponding vocal sound effect is inserted at the beginning, end, or within the user&#39;s synthesized speech. 
     According to an aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to receive the user&#39;s text input and selection of an emoji object, and communicate the input and selection to a voicesetting engine  114 . The voicesetting engine  114  is illustrative of a software module, system, or device operative to receive user input, apply the predefined operation associated with the selected emoji object to apply speech or prosodic properties to the text input, and output a representation of the user&#39;s speech to a speech generation engine  118  for generating audible output  126  embodied as expressive synthesized speech. In some examples, the voicesetting engine  114  comprises an index of emoji objects and their corresponding operation(s), which includes prosodic attributes and/or vocal sound effects. The voice setting engine  114  is operative to reference the index for applying the appropriate prosodic attributes and/or vocal sound effect to the user&#39;s text. According to an aspect, the voicesetting engine  114  specifies the text input and prosodic attributes and/or vocal sound effects via a markup language, such as Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML), which is output to a speech generation engine  118 . The audible output  126  is played on an audio output device  128 , which may be integrated with the user&#39;s computing device  102 , or may be incorporated in another device utilized by a communication partner  120 . 
     In some examples, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  works in association with a visualization generation engine  116  for generating expressive visual output  122  for display on a visual output device  124  from the user&#39;s input. For example, the predefined operation or operations associated with each emoji object may include providing a visual feature, wherein, each emoji object may be associated with one or more visual features (e.g., text, emoji, graphics, animations, video clips). When the user  104  selectively inserts an emoji object into the user&#39;s text input, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to communicate the text input and the selected emoji object to the voicesetting engine  114 , wherein the voicesetting engine applies the predefined operation associated with the selected emoji object to apply visual features to the text input, and output a representation of the visual features to a visualization generation engine  116  for generating visual output  122  for display on a visual output device  124 . The visual output device  124  may be integrated with the user&#39;s computing device  102 , or may be incorporated in another device utilized by a communication partner  120 . In some examples, the visual output device  124  and the audio output device  128  are incorporated in a single device. 
     According to another aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is further operative to provide a plurality of punctuation objects (e.g., a period, comma, question mark, exclamation point), which when selectively inserted into the user&#39;s text, change prosodic attributes (e.g., silent space, pitch, speed, emphasis) of surrounding words. In some examples, a settings menu is provided for enabling the user to customize the prosodic attributes or vocal sound effects associated with emoji objects or to customize the prosodic attributes associated with punctuation objects. 
     According to another aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is further operative to provide a selectable active listening mode (ALM) for enabling the user  104  to select vocal sound effects and/or visual effects for communicating information when a communication partner  120  is speaking. For example, akin to using gestures, such as nodding, or non-verbal vocalizations, such as laughing, in standard communication, the user  104  is enabled to use ALM effects to provide feedback to the user&#39;s communication partner  120 . According to examples, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to provide an ALM command, which when selected, causes the expressive keyboard UI engine to display a plurality of selectable ALM effect options, wherein each ALM effect option is associated with a particular sound effect and/or visual effect. In some examples, the ALM effect options and associated sound or visual effects are customizable by the user  104 . For example, the user  104  is enabled to select specific ALM effect options to display on the keyboard. In one example, voice-banked recordings may be associated with sound effect options. For example, a voice-banked phrase or other sound effect may be previously recorded by the user  104  or another individual and saved as a sound effect that can be selectively played or spoken by the expressive synthesized speech system  108  during a conversation with a communication partner  120 . In another example, an expression-banked reaction may be previously recorded by the user  104  or another individual and saved as a visual effect that can be selectively displayed by the expressive synthesized speech system  108  during a conversation with a communication partner  120 . Further, the user  104  may save a static image or a video clip as a visual effect. 
     According to an aspect, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to receive the user&#39;s ALM effect option selection, and communicate the selection to the voicesetting engine  114  for outputting a representation of the associated ALM effect to an audio output device  128  and/or to a visual output device  124 . The expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to communicate the selected ALM effect option to the voicesetting engine  114 , wherein the voicesetting engine applies the predefined operation associated with the selected ALM effect option to provide audible features or visual features associated with the selected ALM effect option as output to a visualization generation engine  116  for generating visual output  122  for display on a visual output device  124  or to an speech generation engine  118  for generating audible output  126  for playback on an audio output device  128 . 
     Aspects of the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  enable single-click input by the user  104  to quickly and easily specify the expressive nature of their speech and to rapidly respond with expressive vocal sound effects while listening to others speak. Aspects of the expressive keyboard including the emoji objects, punctuation objects, and the ALM effect options will be described in further detail below with reference to  FIGS. 2A-2P . 
     With reference still to  FIG. 1 , the expressive synthesized speech system  108  further comprises a voicesetting editor  112  illustrative of a software module, system, or device operative to provide a GUI that allows the user  104  to modify various prosodic properties associated with text input for asynchronously authoring expressivity of synthesized speech (e.g., outside of a face-to-face conversation). In some examples, the text input includes text composed via interaction with the expressive keyboard. In other examples, the text input includes text in an existing text file which the user  104  is enabled to upload into the expressive synthesized speech system  108 . The voicesetting editor  112  is operative to provide various controls for enabling the user  104  to edit various properties of the output speech via coarse input methods, such as via eye gaze or head mouse movement. According to aspects, the user  104  is enabled to add detailed pacing, emotional content, or prosodic content to text before the text is rendered as speech. For example, the voicesetting editor  112  provides controls for editing pause length, pitch, speed, or emphasis of specific text, and for inserting sound effects and/or visual effects. According to examples, the user  104  may utilize the UI provided by the voicesetting editor  112  when the user wants to have a higher degree of control over specifics of how the user&#39;s text will be spoken when played by an audio output device  128 . For example, the voicesetting text via the voicesetting editor  112  typically entails additional time, and may be used by the user  104  in a situation where the user is preparing text to speak in advance (e.g., before a medical appointment, before giving a public speech, when preparing stored phrases for repeated use). Aspects of the voicesetting editor  112  will be described in further detail below with respect to  FIGS. 3A-3G . 
     As described above, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  is operative to provide intuitive synthesized speech-authoring user interfaces via which the user  104  is enabled to efficiently and effectively author content for generating expressive output, such as prosody-enhanced speech, sound effects, and visual effects. Examples of synthesized speech-authoring user interfaces provided by the expressive synthesized speech system  108  are described below with reference to  FIGS. 2A-3G . With reference now to  FIG. 2A , an illustration of an example UI displayed on a display  204  of a computing device  102  and generated by aspects of an expressive synthesized speech system  108  is shown. According to various aspects, the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to generate an expressive synthesized speech system UI  202  including an expressive keyboard  206  for enabling the user  104  to provide text input  210 , prosodic cue selections, and sound and/or visual effect selections. Examples of the expressive keyboard  206  include an alpha-numeric keyboard, which the user  104  is enabled to use to select letters and numbers to author textual content  210  for speech synthesis. In some examples, the expressive keyboard  206  is a gaze-based on-screen keyboard, wherein eye tracking is used to determine the user&#39;s gaze position, which is utilized as a cursor. For example, to enter text  210 , the user  104  may gaze on letters, numbers, or other displayed keys of the on-screen keyboard. In other examples, the expressive keyboard  206  enables input via a head mouse input device  106 , where the user&#39;s head movements are translated into mouse pointer movement. In other examples, other input device  106  types are used for inputting textual content and providing selections. 
     Examples of the expressive keyboard  206  further include a plurality of selectable punctuation objects  208   a - n  (collectively,  208 ), which the user  104  is enabled to include with textual input  210  to specify the expressive nature of the textual input. According to aspects, each punctuation object  208  has a predetermined operation associated with it that specifies how particular prosodic attributes are to be applied to surrounding text, thus changing the expressive nature of the speech that will be generated from the text. 
     For example, inclusion of a period, comma, or exclamation point punctuation object  208  may operate to insert a default or user-customizable amount of silent space between pronouncing words or sentences, thus allowing the user  104  to set the cadence of his/her speech. As another example, inclusion of a single question mark punctuation object  208  may operate to raise the pitch of a word located immediately prior to the question mark, and inclusion of two question mark punctuation objects may operate to raise the pitch of the two words located immediately prior to the question marks to emphasize that the textual content  210  is a question. As can be appreciated, this can be useful in scenarios in which the user  104  asks a question that could be interpreted as a statement if not for the question mark(s) (e.g., “She is meeting us there.” vs “She is meeting us there?”). As another example, inclusion of an exclamation point punctuation object  208  may operate to increase the emotional tone, volume, or rate of speech of at least a portion of the textual content  210 , or to place emphasis on a specific word of the textual content. As should be appreciated, the punctuation objects  208  illustrated in the figures and described herein are non-limiting examples. Other punctuation objects  208  and other corresponding operations are possible and are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
     According to an aspect, the user  104  may enter textual content  210 , select a punctuation object  208 , and then select to play the text with the punctuation object functionality applied. For example, the user  104  may select a play command  212 , which when selected, causes the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  to pass the textual content  210  and the selected punctuation object  208  to the voicesetting engine  114  for application of the prosodic attributes or prosodic properties corresponding to the selected punctuation object to the textual content. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2B , the expressive keyboard  206  further includes a selectable ALM (active listening mode) command  214 , which when selected, causes the expressive synthesized speech system  108  to enter an active listening mode and the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  to display a plurality of selectable ALM effect options  216   a - n  (collectively,  216 ), wherein each ALM effect option is associated with a particular sound effect and/or visual effect that can be selectively communicated to a communication partner  120 . For example, selection of an ALM effect option  216  enables the user  104  to provide rapid expressive reactions when the communication partner  120  is speaking. With reference now to  FIG. 2C , a plurality of example selectable ALM effect options  216  are illustrated. As described above, the ALM effect options  216  provide the synthesized speech user  104  with single-click access to a variety of sound effects and/or visual effects, which in various examples, are customizable by the synthesized speech user. Although the example ALM effect options  216  illustrated in  FIG. 2C  are displayed as text, other display options are possible, such as images or symbols. 
     According to an example and as illustrated in  FIG. 2D , a user  104  and a communication partner  120  may have a conversation. The first step depicts the communication partner  120  talking, and the user  104  providing communication feedback to the communication partner  120  in the form of an “I&#39;m listening” visual effect/output  122  that can be rendered on the communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124  in response to a selection of an ALM effect option  216 . The second step depicts the user  104  selecting another ALM effect option  216  for providing another visual effect and/or sound effect to communicate with the communication partner  120 . For example, as the communication partner  120  is telling the user  104  a funny story, the user selects a “laugh” ALM effect option  216 . Accordingly, as depicted in the third step, a corresponding visual effect/output  122  is displayed on the communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 , and a corresponding sound effect/output  126  is played on the communication partner&#39;s audio output device  128 . As illustrated, the user  104  is enabled to provide rapid expressive reactions during a conversation. 
     According to aspects, a variety of ALM effect options  216  may be provided in the expressive keyboard  206 , and a variety of corresponding audio (sound) effects/output  126  and visual effects/output  122  may be provided responsive to a selection of an ALM effect option. Various examples of visual effects/output  122  corresponding to various ALM effect options  216  are illustrated in  FIGS. 2E-2I . According to one example and with reference to  FIG. 2E , an “I&#39;m listening” ALM effect option  126  may be provided, which when selected may provide a visual effect/output  122  for display on a visual output device  124 , such as the communication partner&#39;s visual output device. The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected ALM effect option  126 , such as text  218   a  saying “I&#39;m listening,” an animated dot object  218   b  indicating that the user  104  is listening, an icon or clipart  218   c  illustrating that the user is listening, an emoticon  218   d  portraying listening, an animated avatar  218   e , or a video clip  218   f  that symbolizes listening. 
     According to another example and with reference to  FIG. 2F , an “I&#39;m talking” ALM effect option  126  may be provided, which when selected may provide a visual effect/output  122  for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected ALM effect option  126 , such as text  220   a  saying “I&#39;m talking,” an animated dot object  220   b  indicating that the user  104  is talking, an icon or clipart  220   c  illustrating that the user is talking, an emoticon  220   d  portraying talking, an animated avatar  220   e , or a video clip  220   f  that characterizes talking. 
     According to another example and with reference to  FIG. 2G , an “I&#39;m typing” ALM effect option  126  may be provided, which when selected may provide a visual effect/output  122  for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected ALM effect option  126 , such as text  220   a  saying “I&#39;m typing,” an animated dot object  220   b  indicating that the user  104  is typing, an icon or clipart  220   c  illustrating that the user is typing, an emoticon  220   d  portraying typing, an animated avatar  220   e , or a video clip  220   f  that characterizes typing or waiting for the user to finish typing. 
     According to another example and with reference to  FIG. 2H , a “hold on” ALM effect option  126  may be provided, which when selected may provide a visual effect/output  122  for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected ALM effect option  126 , such as text  220   a  saying “hold on,” an animated dot object  220   b  indicating to wait or hold on, an icon or clipart  220   c  illustrating for the communication partner  120  to wait, an emoticon  220   d  portraying waiting or holding, an animated avatar  220   e , or a video clip  220   f  that characterizes waiting for the user  104 . 
     According to another example and with reference to  FIG. 2I , a “pardon me?” ALM effect option  126  may be provided, which when selected may provide a visual effect/output  122  for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected ALM effect option  126 , such as text  220   a  saying “pardon me?,” an animated dot object  220   b  indicating a question, an icon or clipart  220   c  illustrating a question, an emoticon  220   d  portraying a question, an animated avatar  220   e , or a video clip  220   f  that characterizes questioning. 
     As should be appreciated, the examples described above and illustrated in  FIGS. 2E-2I  are not meant to limiting. Other ALM effect options  126  and other visual effects/output  122  are possible and are within the scope of the disclosure. For example, the visual output  122  can be in a spectrum from concrete to ambiguous, as well as the spectrum of low to high resolution. According to an aspect, visual output  122  may be generated and provided automatically. For example, when the expressive communication partner&#39;s system  108  may detect that the user  104  is typing, and automatically provide a visual effect, such one or more of the “I&#39;m typing” visual features or the “I&#39;m talking” visual features described above and illustrated in  FIGS. 2F and 2G . Further, according to another aspect, the communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124  could be embodied as a physical object that is configured to convey the other visual effects/output  122 . For example, the visual output device  124  may include an animatronic robot configured to move appendages, change positions and/or change facial expressions to reflect the visual output  122 . 
     As described above and with reference now to  FIG. 2J , the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  is operative to provide a set of selectable icons or emoji objects  228   a - n  (collectively,  228 ) that can be selectively inserted into the user&#39;s text  210 . According to an example, certain emoji objects  228  may be intelligently and selectively displayed, for example, based on linguistic properties of the user&#39;s textual input or based on recognized user affects detected via a sensor (e.g., biometric sensors, facial expression sensors, body posture sensors, gesture sensors). Each emoji object  228  illustrates a particular emotion (e.g., sad, calm, happy, funny, sarcastic, surprised, irritated, angry), and is associated with a predefined speech operation or operations that can add a sound effect (e.g., laughter, a sharp breath, a sarcastic scoff, grunt, sigh, a disgusted “ugh” sound, an angry “argh” sound), change the tone of voice of the user&#39;s text  210  to a specified emotional state (e.g., sad, calm, happy, funny, sarcastic, irritated, angry), or a combination of both. For example, specific predetermined prosodic attribute settings may be associated with each emoji object  228 . When an emoji object  228  is inserted, the specific predetermined prosodic attribute settings associated with the particular emoji object are applied to the user&#39;s text  210 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2J , the user  104  has entered text  210  and has selected an angry emoji object  228   i . Accordingly, responsive to the user&#39;s selection, the expressive communication partner&#39;s system  108  is operative to insert an angry “argh” sound effect and modify the user&#39;s text  210  according to predefined prosodic attribute settings associated with the angry emoji object  128   i  for expressing an angry tone when the text is played. Further, the user&#39;s text  210  includes a punctuation object  208 , which in the illustrated example is a question mark. Accordingly, specific prosodic features may be applied to a portion of the user&#39;s text  210  according to the inserted punctuation object  208 . For example, the pitch of the last one or more words may be raised to emphasize that the sentence is a question. 
     In some examples, emoji objects  228  are further associated with predefined visual operations, wherein selection and insertion of an emoji object  228  in the user&#39;s text  210  causes the expressive synthesized speech system  108  to provide a particular visual feature for display on the communication partner&#39;s device. Examples of various visual features that may be displayed in response to the user&#39;s selection of emoji objects  228  are illustrated in  FIGS. 2K-2P . With reference now to  FIG. 2K , responsive to a selection of a happy emoji object  228   c , a visual effect/output  122  representing a happy expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  230   a  saying “happy,” an animated dot object  230   b  characterizing a smiley face, an icon or clipart  230   c  illustrating a smiley face, an emoticon  230   d  portraying a smiley face, an animated avatar  230   e  personifying happiness, or a video clip  230   f  that characterizes happiness. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 2L , responsive to a selection of a sad emoji object  228   a , a visual effect/output  122  representing a sad expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  232   a  saying “sad,” an animated dot object  232   b  characterizing a sad face, an icon or clipart  232   c  illustrating a sad face, an emoticon  232   d  portraying a sad face, an animated avatar  232   e  personifying sadness, or a video clip  232   f  that characterizes sadness. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 2M , responsive to a selection of an angry emoji object  228   i , a visual effect/output  122  representing an angry expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  234   a  saying “angry,” an animated dot object  234   b  characterizing an angry face, an icon or clipart  234   c  illustrating an angry face, an emoticon  234   d  portraying an angry face, an animated avatar  234   e  personifying anger, or a video clip  232   f  that characterizes anger. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 2N , responsive to a selection of a funny emoji object  228   d , a visual effect/output  122  representing a funny expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  236   a  saying “funny,” an animated dot object  236   b  characterizing a laughing face, an icon or clipart  236   c  illustrating a laughing face, an emoticon  236   d  portraying a laughing face, an animated avatar  236   e  personifying laughter, or a video clip  236   f  that characterizes laughter. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 2O , responsive to a selection of a sarcastic emoji object  228   e , a visual effect/output  122  representing a sarcastic expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  238   a  saying “sarcastic,” an animated dot object  238   b  characterizing a sarcastic face, an icon or clipart  238   c  illustrating a sarcastic face, an emoticon  238   d  portraying a sarcastic face, an animated avatar  238   e  personifying sarcasm, or a video clip  238   f  that characterizes sarcasm. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 2P , responsive to a selection of a love emoji object  228 , a visual effect/output  122  representing a loving expression may be provided for display on a communication partner&#39;s visual output device  124 . The visual effect may be embodied as one or more visual features representing the selected emoji object  228 , such as text  240   a  saying “caring,” an animated dot object  240   b  characterizing a heart, an icon or clipart  240   c  illustrating a heart, an emoticon  240   d  portraying a heart, an animated avatar  240   e  personifying love, or a video clip  240   f  that characterizes love. As should be appreciated, the above examples are not limiting. Other emoji objects  228  and visual features are possible and are within the scope of the present disclosure. 
     As described above, the voicesetting editor  112  is operative to provide a GUI that allows the user  104  to modify various prosodic properties associated with individual words within input text  210  for explicitly authoring expressivity of synthesized speech. With reference now to  FIG. 3A , the user  104  is enabled to select to use the voicesetting editor  112 , for example, via a selection of a voicesetting editor command  302 . 
     In response and with reference now to  FIG. 3B , the voicesetting editor  112  is operative to display a voicesetting editor UI  304  for enabling the user  104  to author specific prosodic properties of the textual input  210 . According to an aspect, the voicesetting editor  112  is operative to parse the input text  210  into three types of tokens  305 : words  308 , punctuation  310 , and vocal sound effects  306  (e.g., derived from selected emoji objects  228  in the input text  210 ). As illustrated in  FIG. 3B , the tokens  305  are displayed in reading order. According to an aspect, padding  312  is provided between the tokens for allowing sufficiently large gaze targets for gaze-based input. In some examples, sound effect tokens  306  include a textual description of the vocal sound effect they represent (e.g., “laugh” for laughter, “argh” for angry effect). According to aspects, the voicesetting editor  112  allows for setting prosodic properties  314  on individual tokens  305  or over ranges of tokens. 
     Selection of a single token, for example, by dwell-clicking on a specific token  305 , opens a token editing interface, such as the example token editing interface  316  illustrated in  FIG. 3C , for editing prosodic properties  314  associated with a single token. The token editing interface  316  includes the selected token  305  displayed in the center of the interface, wherein modifiable prosodic properties  314  are displayed in a radial menu surrounding the token. According to an aspect, a radial menu design used for single token editing reduces the amount of distance the user&#39;s eye must travel during gaze-based input to change properties  314  of the token, thus enabling efficient user interaction and increasing user interaction performance. 
     Aspects of the voicesetting editor UI  304  allow for selecting a range of tokens  305  for editing. In one example and as illustrated in  FIG. 3B , a range selector  318  is provided, which when selected, allows the user  104  to select a range of tokens  305 . For example, after selecting the range selector  318 , the user  104  may select the first token  305  in the desired range, followed by a selection of the last token in the desired range. Responsive to selecting a range of tokens  305 , the voicesetting editor  112  is operative to display a token editing interface, such as the example token editing interface  320  illustrated in  FIG. 3D , for editing prosodic properties  314  associated with a range  322  of tokens  305 . 
     According to examples, in the token editing interface  316 ,  320 , a set of prosodic properties  314  are displayed that the user  104  is enabled to adjust. According to an aspect, only the properties  314  that can be adjusted for a selected token  305  are displayed. Some prosodic properties  314  can be applied to all three types of token  305 , for example, emotional tone, rate of speech, volume, and pitch. Other prosodic properties  314  are adjustable for particular token types. For example, word tokens  308  have an emphasis property  314   b  that allows the user  104  to specify which words should be emphasized. As another example, punctuation tokens  310  have a pause property  314  that allows the user  104  to specify an amount of silent time to synthesize between the pronunciations of words. 
     Upon selection of a prosodic property  314 , the voicesetting editor  112  provides functionalities for enabling the user  104  to adjust the value of the property. According to an aspect, a set of predetermined value ranges are provided for prosodic properties  314 . In an example and as illustrated in  FIG. 3E , a meaningful label  324  is associated with each value. For example, the emphasis property  314   b  may have the labels  324  and values: “normal” (a default value that the user  104  is enabled to configure), “strong” (80%), and “very strong” (100%). Value adjusters  326 ,  328  are provided for enabling the user  104  to adjust the value of the prosodic property up or down respectively. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 3F and 3G , prosodic property values are displayed in the voicesetting editor UI  304  using visual properties. In one example, emotional tone  314   f , volume  314   d , and rate of speech  314   e  properties are displayed as lines over tokens  305 . According to an example, the labels  324  associated with the properties are displayed on or near the lines. According to another example, voice pitch  314   c  is displayed using a corresponding baseline height  334  (e.g., the higher the baseline height, the higher the pitch, the lower the baseline height, the lower the pitch). According to another example, emphasis  314   b  is displayed using font boldness  336  (e.g., bolder font corresponds to heavier emphasis). According to another example, pause length  314   g  is displayed using an ellipse  332 , wherein the width of the ellipse  332  corresponds to the pause length according to inter-word or punctuation tokens. 
     Having described an operating environment and various user interface display examples with respect to  FIGS. 1-3G ,  FIGS. 4A and 4B  are flow charts showing general stages involved in example methods  400 ,  420  for generating expressive content. With reference now to  FIG. 4A , the method  400  begins at start OPERATION  402 , and proceeds to OPERATION  404 , where the expressive keyboard  206  is displayed in the expressive synthesized speech system UI  202 . 
     The method  400  proceeds to OPERATION  406 , where textual input  210  is received from the user  104 . Further, a selection of an expressive operator may be received. For example, the user  104  may select an emoji object  228  or a punctuation object  208  for insertion into the textual input. 
     At DECISION OPERATION  408 , a determination is made as to whether to launch the voicesetting editor  112  for editing prosodic properties  214  associated with the user&#39;s textual content  210 . For example, the determination may be made based on whether the user  104  selects a voicesetting editor command  302 . When a determination is made to launch the voicesetting editor  112 , the method  400  proceeds to OPERATION  410 , where the voicesetting editor  112  parses the textual content  210  and any selected punctuation objects  208  or emoji objects  228 , and displays a voicesetting editor UI  304  for allowing the user  104  to adjust or refine prosodic properties  214  for crafting the rendering of the user&#39;s content by a synthetic voice. 
     The method  400  proceeds to OPERATION  412 , where the user  104  makes one or more prosodic property  214  selections, and at OPERATION  414 , the prosodic attributes, vocal sound effects, or visual effects associated with selected emoji object  228  and/or punctuation object  208  are applied to the textual input  210 . 
     At OPERATION  416 , the combined textual input  210  and prosodic attributes, vocal sound effects, or visual effects are output to a speech generation engine  118  for generating expressive audible output  126  for playback on an audio output device  128  or to a visualization generation engine  116  for generating expressive visual output  122  for display on a visual output device  124 . The method  400  ends at OPERATION  418 . 
     With reference now to  FIG. 4B , the method  420  begins at start OPERATION  422 , and proceeds to OPERATION  424 , where the expressive keyboard  206  is displayed in the expressive synthesized speech system UI  202 . 
     The method  420  proceeds to OPERATION  426 , where a selection to launch the active listening mode (ALM) is received. For example, the user  110  may select an ALM command  214  displayed on the expressive keyboard  206 . 
     The method  420  proceeds to OPERATION  428 , where responsive to the ALM command  214  selection, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  enters an active listening mode and the expressive keyboard UI engine  110  displays a plurality of selectable ALM effect options  216 , wherein each ALM effect option  216  is associated with a particular sound effect and/or visual effect that can be selectively communicated to a communication partner  120 . 
     The method  420  proceeds to OPERATION  430 , where a selection of an ALM effect option  216  is received. At OPERATION  432 , the expressive synthesized speech system  108  identifies the vocal sound effect and/or visual effect corresponding to the selected ALM effect option  216 , and outputs the corresponding vocal sound effect and/or visual effect to a speech generation engine  118  or visualization generation engine  116  for generating audible output  126 /visual output  122  for playback/display on a communication partner&#39;s  120  device  128 / 124 . The method  420  ends at OPERATION  434 . 
     While implementations have been described in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with an application program that runs on an operating system on a computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that aspects may also be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. 
     The aspects and functionalities described herein may operate via a multitude of computing systems including, without limitation, desktop computer systems, wired and wireless computing systems, mobile computing systems (e.g., mobile telephones, netbooks, tablet or slate type computers, notebook computers, and laptop computers), hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, and mainframe computers. 
     In addition, according to an aspect, the aspects and functionalities described herein operate over distributed systems (e.g., cloud-based computing systems), where application functionality, memory, data storage and retrieval and various processing functions are operated remotely from each other over a distributed computing network, such as the Internet or an intranet. According to an aspect, user interfaces and information of various types are displayed via on-board computing device displays or via remote display units associated with one or more computing devices. For example, user interfaces and information of various types are displayed and interacted with on a wall surface onto which user interfaces and information of various types are projected. Interaction with the multitude of computing systems with which implementations are practiced include, keystroke entry, touch screen entry, voice or other audio entry, gesture entry where an associated computing device is equipped with detection (e.g., camera) functionality for capturing and interpreting user gestures for controlling the functionality of the computing device, and the like. 
       FIGS. 5-7  and the associated descriptions provide a discussion of a variety of operating environments in which examples are practiced. However, the devices and systems illustrated and discussed with respect to  FIGS. 5-7  are for purposes of example and illustration and are not limiting of a vast number of computing device configurations that are utilized for practicing aspects, described herein. 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating physical components (i.e., hardware) of a computing device  500  with which examples of the present disclosure may be practiced. In a basic configuration, the computing device  500  includes at least one processing unit  502  and a system memory  504 . According to an aspect, depending on the configuration and type of computing device, the system memory  504  comprises, but is not limited to, volatile storage (e.g., random access memory), non-volatile storage (e.g., read-only memory), flash memory, or any combination of such memories. According to an aspect, the system memory  504  includes an operating system  505  and one or more program modules  506  suitable for running software applications  550 . According to an aspect, the system memory  504  includes the expressive synthesized speech system  108 . The operating system  505 , for example, is suitable for controlling the operation of the computing device  500 . Furthermore, aspects are practiced in conjunction with a graphics library, other operating systems, or any other application program, and are not limited to any particular application or system. This basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 5  by those components within a dashed line  508 . According to an aspect, the computing device  500  has additional features or functionality. For example, according to an aspect, the computing device  500  includes additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 5  by a removable storage device  509  and a non-removable storage device  510 . 
     As stated above, according to an aspect, a number of program modules and data files are stored in the system memory  504 . While executing on the processing unit  502 , the program modules  506  (e.g., expressive synthesized speech system  108 ) perform processes including, but not limited to, one or more of the stages of the methods  400  and  420  illustrated in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . According to an aspect, other program modules are used in accordance with examples and include applications  550  such as electronic mail and contacts applications, word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, slide presentation applications, drawing or computer-aided application programs, etc. 
     According to an aspect, aspects are practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. For example, aspects are practiced via a system-on-a-chip (SOC) where each or many of the components illustrated in  FIG. 5  are integrated onto a single integrated circuit. According to an aspect, such an SOC device includes one or more processing units, graphics units, communications units, system virtualization units and various application functionality all of which are integrated (or “burned”) onto the chip substrate as a single integrated circuit. When operating via an SOC, the functionality, described herein, is operated via application-specific logic integrated with other components of the computing device  500  on the single integrated circuit (chip). According to an aspect, aspects of the present disclosure are practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition, aspects are practiced within a general purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems. 
     According to an aspect, the computing device  500  has one or more input device(s)  512  such as a keyboard, a mouse, a pen, a sound input device, a touch input device, etc. The output device(s)  514  such as a display, speakers, a printer, etc. are also included according to an aspect. The aforementioned devices are examples and others may be used. According to an aspect, the computing device  500  includes one or more communication connections  516  allowing communications with other computing devices  518 . Examples of suitable communication connections  516  include, but are not limited to, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver circuitry; universal serial bus (USB), parallel, and/or serial ports. 
     The term computer readable media as used herein include computer storage media. Computer storage media include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, or program modules. The system memory  504 , the removable storage device  509 , and the non-removable storage device  510  are all computer storage media examples (i.e., memory storage.) According to an aspect, computer storage media includes RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other article of manufacture which can be used to store information and which can be accessed by the computing device  500 . According to an aspect, any such computer storage media is part of the computing device  500 . Computer storage media does not include a carrier wave or other propagated data signal. 
     According to an aspect, communication media is embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery media. According to an aspect, the term “modulated data signal” describes a signal that has one or more characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF), infrared, and other wireless media. 
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate a mobile computing device  600 , for example, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a tablet personal computer, a laptop computer, and the like, with which aspects may be practiced. With reference to  FIG. 6A , an example of a mobile computing device  600  for implementing the aspects is illustrated. In a basic configuration, the mobile computing device  600  is a handheld computer having both input elements and output elements. The mobile computing device  600  typically includes a display  605  and one or more input buttons  610  that allow the user to enter information into the mobile computing device  600 . According to an aspect, the display  605  of the mobile computing device  600  functions as an input device (e.g., a touch screen display). If included, an optional side input element  615  allows further user input. According to an aspect, the side input element  615  is a rotary switch, a button, or any other type of manual input element. In alternative examples, mobile computing device  600  incorporates more or less input elements. For example, the display  605  may not be a touch screen in some examples. In alternative examples, the mobile computing device  600  is a portable phone system, such as a cellular phone. According to an aspect, the mobile computing device  600  includes an optional keypad  635 . According to an aspect, the optional keypad  635  is a physical keypad. According to another aspect, the optional keypad  635  is a “soft” keypad generated on the touch screen display. In various aspects, the output elements include the display  605  for showing a graphical user interface (GUI), a visual indicator  620  (e.g., a light emitting diode), and/or an audio transducer  625  (e.g., a speaker). In some examples, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates a vibration transducer for providing the user with tactile feedback. In yet another example, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates input and/or output ports, such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device. In yet another example, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates peripheral device port  640 , such as an audio input (e.g., a microphone jack), an audio output (e.g., a headphone jack), and a video output (e.g., a HDMI port) for sending signals to or receiving signals from an external device. 
       FIG. 6B  is a block diagram illustrating the architecture of one example of a mobile computing device. That is, the mobile computing device  600  incorporates a system (i.e., an architecture)  602  to implement some examples. In one example, the system  602  is implemented as a “smart phone” capable of running one or more applications (e.g., browser, e-mail, calendaring, contact managers, messaging clients, games, and media clients/players). In some examples, the system  602  is integrated as a computing device, such as an integrated personal digital assistant (PDA) and wireless phone. 
     According to an aspect, one or more application programs  650  are loaded into the memory  662  and run on or in association with the operating system  664 . Examples of the application programs include phone dialer programs, e-mail programs, personal information management (PIM) programs, word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, Internet browser programs, messaging programs, and so forth. According to an aspect, the expressive synthesized speech system  108  is loaded into memory  662 . The system  602  also includes a non-volatile storage area  668  within the memory  662 . The non-volatile storage area  668  is used to store persistent information that should not be lost if the system  602  is powered down. The application programs  650  may use and store information in the non-volatile storage area  668 , such as e-mail or other messages used by an e-mail application, and the like. A synchronization application (not shown) also resides on the system  602  and is programmed to interact with a corresponding synchronization application resident on a host computer to keep the information stored in the non-volatile storage area  668  synchronized with corresponding information stored at the host computer. As should be appreciated, other applications may be loaded into the memory  662  and run on the mobile computing device  600 . 
     According to an aspect, the system  602  has a power supply  670 , which is implemented as one or more batteries. According to an aspect, the power supply  670  further includes an external power source, such as an AC adapter or a powered docking cradle that supplements or recharges the batteries. 
     According to an aspect, the system  602  includes a radio  672  that performs the function of transmitting and receiving radio frequency communications. The radio  672  facilitates wireless connectivity between the system  602  and the “outside world,” via a communications carrier or service provider. Transmissions to and from the radio  672  are conducted under control of the operating system  664 . In other words, communications received by the radio  672  may be disseminated to the application programs  650  via the operating system  664 , and vice versa. 
     According to an aspect, the visual indicator  620  is used to provide visual notifications and/or an audio interface  674  is used for producing audible notifications via the audio transducer  625 . In the illustrated example, the visual indicator  620  is a light emitting diode (LED) and the audio transducer  625  is a speaker. These devices may be directly coupled to the power supply  670  so that when activated, they remain on for a duration dictated by the notification mechanism even though the processor  660  and other components might shut down for conserving battery power. The LED may be programmed to remain on indefinitely until the user takes action to indicate the powered-on status of the device. The audio interface  674  is used to provide audible signals to and receive audible signals from the user. For example, in addition to being coupled to the audio transducer  625 , the audio interface  674  may also be coupled to a microphone to receive audible input, such as to facilitate a telephone conversation. According to an aspect, the system  602  further includes a video interface  676  that enables an operation of an on-board camera  630  to record still images, video stream, and the like. 
     According to an aspect, a mobile computing device  600  implementing the system  602  has additional features or functionality. For example, the mobile computing device  600  includes additional data storage devices (removable and/or non-removable) such as, magnetic disks, optical disks, or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 6B  by the non-volatile storage area  668 . 
     According to an aspect, data/information generated or captured by the mobile computing device  600  and stored via the system  602  is stored locally on the mobile computing device  600 , as described above. According to another aspect, the data is stored on any number of storage media that is accessible by the device via the radio  672  or via a wired connection between the mobile computing device  600  and a separate computing device associated with the mobile computing device  600 , for example, a server computer in a distributed computing network, such as the Internet. As should be appreciated such data/information is accessible via the mobile computing device  600  via the radio  672  or via a distributed computing network. Similarly, according to an aspect, such data/information is readily transferred between computing devices for storage and use according to well-known data/information transfer and storage means, including electronic mail and collaborative data/information sharing systems. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates one example of the architecture of a system for generating expressive content as described above. Content developed, interacted with, or edited in association with the expressive synthesized speech system  108  is enabled to be stored in different communication channels or other storage types. For example, various documents may be stored using a directory service  722 , a web portal  724 , a mailbox service  726 , an instant messaging store  728 , or a social networking site  730 . The expressive synthesized speech system  108  is operative to use any of these types of systems or the like for generating expressive content, as described herein. According to an aspect, a server  720  provides the expressive synthesized speech system  108  to clients  705   a,b,c . As one example, the server  720  is a web server providing the expressive synthesized speech system  108  over the web. The server  720  provides the expressive synthesized speech system  108  over the web to clients  705  through a network  740 . By way of example, the client computing device is implemented and embodied in a personal computer  705   a , a tablet computing device  705   b  or a mobile computing device  705   c  (e.g., a smart phone), or other computing device. Any of these examples of the client computing device are operable to obtain content from the store  716 . 
     Implementations, for example, are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to aspects. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as shown in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. 
     The description and illustration of one or more examples provided in this application are not intended to limit or restrict the scope as claimed in any way. The aspects, examples, and details provided in this application are considered sufficient to convey possession and enable others to make and use the best mode. Implementations should not be construed as being limited to any aspect, example, or detail provided in this application. Regardless of whether shown and described in combination or separately, the various features (both structural and methodological) are intended to be selectively included or omitted to produce an example with a particular set of features. Having been provided with the description and illustration of the present application, one skilled in the art may envision variations, modifications, and alternate examples falling within the spirit of the broader aspects of the general inventive concept embodied in this application that do not depart from the broader scope.