Why Computer Voices are Mostly Female

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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With the recent release of the new iPhone and the virtual assistant named Siri, the question arises concerning the gender of the voice and why it is usually female in automated devices. The answer is quite simple: a woman’s voice is just more pleasing to hear in general according to research.

Bajarin, the Silicon Valley analyst, believes that more computerized voices would be masculine if not for the associations with HAL, whose malicious intent in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film was made even creepier by his soothing tone.
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maybe for old folks, i say that movie when I was a teen, 31 now. feel asleep 3 times watching that movie, every time they did the space shots i feel a sleep, but other than that was a good flick but meh

I would think the voice's are female cause men would react more to a female voice than a male voice, at least i would lol
 
mm i ment saw not say, wont let me edit the post for some reason
 
They are definitely more pleasing to listen to. But I can't stand a female's voice for book reading unless they are playing a female part. It's horrid, and I cringe every time I hear a woman try to play a man's voice in an audio book?
 
And here I thought that women have such limited utility; making sandwiches, cleaning, and sex.

Although technically robot voices aren't really female, so I'm not sure that counts.
 
I wonder if there are vocaloid synthesizers I can download.
 
Personally, I want C3P0's voice as my assistant/GPS... Or Simpson, I think he's voiced by a woman isn't he?
 
The origination of the use of female voices in computers goes back to the 1960's and the B-58 Hustler.

http://67.189.28.191/b-58/history_defensive.cfm

Midway through its operational career, the B-58 was also fitted with a voice warning system with a pre-recorded female voice that would inform the crew when an emergency was taking place. After consulting with psychologists, it was determined that a female voice would "cut through" normal communications in a more effective manner in the event of an emergency. Of course, the all-male crews affectionately referred to the disembodied female voice as "the bitch", because she never had anything good to say! Every major event from an engine fire to a hydraulic failure was included in the set of events, and a total of 20 emergencies could be programmed into the system from 50 inputs.
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You can hear the voice here:

http://palamar.com/projects/b-58/B-58_Voice_Warning_Messages.htm
 
Reminds me in a bond film where why james bonds car had a female voice, to keep his attention.
 
also. iPhone users don't want to be thought of as gay if they're caught jacking off to the latest iPhone feature.
 
I don't think that it's more pleasing to hear.

A woman's voice is just least threatening.
 
I think the intercom voice from HL2 would be a good voice to use for Siri.
 
"And that's how the UAC is creating safer worlds through superior firepower!"

You can't get more pleasing than that. :D
 
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