🎧 Ideal audio formats in SmartGuide are mp3 or mp4a

1. Text-To-Speech audio

Automatically generated when saving modified texts in Place description field.

Do you remember the 3 categories from our Minimum Quality Requirements?

• Free category: automatic Text-to-Speech audio
• Paid or Target category: Text-to-Speech should be fixed (no mistakes in pronunciation) or have an uploaded file with a human voice.

The mistakes in the pronunciation of the Text-to-Speech can be fixed by so-called Phonemes - we teach the Text-to-Speech voice the right pronunciation - which is a paid service. Or you can upload your own audio, where these mistakes should not be. For more information, you can contact us.

2. Your own audio

The main aim is to distinguish a real voiceover from Text-To-Speech (robotic voice). We want to offer those who speak different languages or who are from different age/interest groups a chance to enjoy the tour together, at the same pace with the full comfort of their preferred language/content option.

We want to deliver the feeling of a tour guide walking next to you and presenting the sights in the most natural yet engaging way possible.

🏆 How to - the ideal situation

1. Prepare notes or a list of information that should be in the Place of Interest/tour.
2. Record the tour with a live guide and focus on: tone of voice, body language and little jokes.
3. Transfer the speech to text and review/shorten it.
4. Prepare the individual Place of Interest texts.

🤔 Why?

There are many moments when a live guide points to something or refers to visual features without explicitly mentioning them in their speech. Most importantly the live guide does NOT sound like a history textbook but more like a storyteller.

❗️ It is proven that people opt for a more informal tone when speaking, compared to solely written text.

✅ DO

• Follow the POI guidelines
• Whenever a live guide would point at something, describe it in audio