Python Text to Speech in Macintosh

Question

Are there any libraries in Python that does or allows Text To Speech Conversion using Mac Lion's built in text to speech engine? I did google but most are windows based. I tried pyttx. I tried to run

import pyttsx
engine = pyttsx.init()
engine.say('Sally sells seashells by the seashore.')
engine.say('The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.')
engine.runAndWait()

But I get these errors

File "/Users/manabchetia/Documents/Codes/Speech.py", line 2, in <module>
    engine = pyttsx.init()
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pyttsx-1.0.egg/pyttsx/__init__.py", line 39, in init
    eng = Engine(driverName, debug)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pyttsx-1.0.egg/pyttsx/engine.py", line 45, in __init__
    self.proxy = driver.DriverProxy(weakref.proxy(self), driverName, debug)
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pyttsx-1.0.egg/pyttsx/driver.py", line 64, in __init__
    self._module = __import__(name, globals(), locals(), [driverName])
  File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pyttsx-1.0.egg/pyttsx/drivers/nsss.py", line 18, in <module>
ImportError: No module named Foundation

How do I solve these errors?

Answer 1

Wouldn't it be much simpler to do this?

from os import system
system('say Hello world!')

You can enter man say to see other things you can do with the say command.

However, if you want some more advanced features, importing AppKit would also be a possibility, although some Cocoa/Objective C knowledge is needed.

from AppKit import NSSpeechSynthesizer
speechSynthesizer = NSSpeechSynthesizer.alloc().initWithVoice_("com.apple.speech.synthesis.voice.Bruce")
speechSynthesizer.startSpeakingString_('Hi! Nice to meet you!')

If you would like to see more things you can do with NSSpeechSynthesizer take a look at Apple's documentation: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/ApplicationKit/Classes/NSSpeechSynthesizer_Class/Reference/Reference.html

Answer 2

If you are targeting Mac OS X as your platform - PyObjC and NSSpeechSynthesizer is your best bet.

Here is a quick example for you

#!/usr/bin/env python

from  AppKit import NSSpeechSynthesizer
import time
import sys


if len(sys.argv) < 2:
   text = raw_input('type text to speak> ')
else:
   text = sys.argv[1]

nssp = NSSpeechSynthesizer

ve = nssp.alloc().init()

for voice in nssp.availableVoices():
   ve.setVoice_(voice)
   print voice
   ve.startSpeakingString_(text)

   while not ve.isSpeaking():
      time.sleep(0.1)

   while ve.isSpeaking():
      time.sleep(0.1)

Please note that AppKit module is part of PyObjC bridge and should be already installed on your Mac. No need to install it if you are using OS provided python (/usr/bin/python)

Answer 3

This might work:

import subprocess
subprocess.call(["say","Hello World! (MESSAGE)"])