Intel + Dell created a read-aloud book that feeds a “voice bank” that can create a digital copy of a patient’s voice so they can still sound like themselves even after losing their ability to speak normally.
Brief Description
Motor neuron disease (MND) is a terminal illness. Before it takes your life, however, it takes your voice.
Created by Dell Technologies, Intel, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and Rolls-Royce, I Will Always Be Me is a book-reading experience that can create a digital voice with just a 30-minute recording.
Why is it significant?
Voice banking can help those with MND create a digital copy of their voice to continue sounding like themselves after losing the ability to speak.
But voice banking is a demanding task that involves reading a long list of random words – often resulting in a disappointingly robotic voice. This project makes this easier and more significant.
This personalized book leverages technology to capture individual stories, memories, and emotions, ensuring that the essence of each person remains vividly alive.
Through this amalgamation of storytelling and technology, a heartfelt and enduring connection is formed, transcending the limitations imposed by illness. Before this campaign, only 12% of those with MND used voicebank technology. Within three months of the launch, the campaign achieved a 50% growth in people banking their voices. I Will Always Be Me also received 1.7 billion impressions from PR and earned media.