Fans of the voice synthesizer software Vocaloid might be interested in this piece of news: you can get Hatsune Miku, or any of the other Vocaloids, to call out to you on your GPS giving you directions with the help of an app.
If you own an Android device (smartphones or tablets), you might want to give this a try. While using the app in tandem with Google Maps, you get the voice of your favourite Vocaloid (Miku (V3), Rin, Luka, Meiko, Kaito, Zunko Tohoku, IA, Gumi or one of the other user-uploaded voices) and it will direct you on the road as you go.
Known as the NaviVoiceChanger, the app is fairly easy to use, enabling users to easily navigate, download and setup different turn-by-turn voiceovers. Moreover, the app is mostly in English, and does not require one to apply some hacks to their device (please try not to root your device if you are unsure :D) or mess with region locks. The only issue is that you will need to understand the Japanese language, or at least understand the phrases that the Vocaloids will say to you, lest you make a wrong turn when Miku was hollering at you to take a right.
The Japanese developer managed to get this working by fiddling with an undocumented feature, which enables the voiceover audio for Google Maps navigation to be customized to a certain degree. Pretty nifty. Also, it would seem that users will able to use their own voice packs — some instructions on how to go about doing so are available in a video (shown below).
Anyways, here’s the video we were referring to. (It’s in Japanese)
You can find the app here: NaviVoiceChanger_(ナビボイスチェンジャー)
Let us know in the comments how you feel about it, especially if you have used it. Now go enjoy yourselves!
Source: [Japanator] Art by: [Chkuyomi]
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