FAQ
What’s so special about Talktiva’s Voice Entertainment Network?
We’re creating an entirely new medium… using the telephone. The Talktiva VPN will, after launch, provide a unique opportunity for consumers to engage in two-way conversations with a portfolio of famous virtual electronic personalities using any phone, anywhere, anytime, hearing them speak with their own voices. This has never been done before.
Why is this compelling?
Talktiva can be an entertainer, personal coach, therapist, companion, educator, trainer, marketing channel, minister, information provider and personal shopper. We are pioneering a completely new interactive digital broadcasting medium. With the mass availability of communication terminals (2.3 billion cell phones, billions of wireline phones, and VOIP phones on 700 millions PCs worldwide) half the planet will be able to reach Talktiva’s Network on demand, 24/7/365.
What channels are you planning to launch?
Channels are like genres, and we are planning to produce shows for channels such as TV, Movies, Games, Sports, Legacy, Music, Coaching, Relationships, Children, Politics, Faith and Shopping.
What personalities are you working with right now?
That’s a secret! But we can say we are in discussions with several famous authors and entertainers to launch conversational shows. Our first show will be TalkToSanta. By the way, Santa was extremely enthusiastic about becoming our premier celebrity.
What about DRM?
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is an umbrella term referring to technologies used by publishers or copyright owners to control access to or usage of digital data or hardware, and to restrictions associated with a specific instance of a digital work or device. The term is often confused with copy protection and technical protection measures, which refer to technologies that control or restrict the use and access of digital content on electronic devices with such technologies installed, acting as components of a DRM design.
The use of DRM has been controversial. Advocates argue DRM is necessary for copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work to ensure continued revenue streams. We intend to develop a DRM policy as it relates to our new voice medium. We intend to share rights with the personalities, developing a potentially valuable catalog of mapped voices for a variety of uses in the future.
What technologies are you using?
We are using best of breed technologies from across the globe to enable our unique vision, including custom text-to-speech, automated speech recognition, natural language processing, real-time facial lip sync animation and more. We are developing proprietary, novel IP that binds these technologies to create fluid and engaging conversations for consumers.
Won’t personalities balk at letting you use their voice to say anything?
Nope, we don’t believe this will be a problem because their voice is only used for scripted conversations for our shows. Everything their virtual persona says is pre-approved. The Enterprise industry has been looking to use celebrity voices for years, but celebrities have balked because their voices could be used to say anything, potentially incriminating statements. We will watermark and encrypt proprietary files to help protect these assets. With an embedded watermark, we can prove that a audio clip was not made by the original personality.
What’s in it for a personality?
We are very selective about who we work with and decide to produce. This is a business and financial partnership with significant benefits to the personality. For celebrities, Talktiva opens up a whole new way to reach their fans and extend their brand. They will be able to earn royalties, read dynamic blog content or messages. They can sell, endorse and promote products, provide information and get feedback from callers. They may take polls or even fund raise for their favorite campaigns or charities. Their content can be dynamic and always kept up-to-date, is secure and private.
