Originally, Eric was available directly through IVONA, but it is now widely utilized through third-party platforms like NextUp TextAloud and in various accessibility tools.
The quality of Ivona's voices was so high that it caught the attention of global tech giants. In 2013, Amazon acquired Ivona Software. Ivona’s technology—and specifically voices like Eric and its female counterpart, Amy—became the backbone of Amazon’s accessibility features. Eric was deployed across Kindle Fire tablets, allowing users to convert text-heavy eBooks into high-quality audiobooks on the fly. 3. Accessibility and Assistive Technology
Ivona Eric's story took a significant turn in January 2013 when for an undisclosed amount. This move was strategic for Amazon, which had already been using Ivona's technology to power the TTS, Voice Guide, and Explore by Touch accessibility features on its Kindle Fire tablets. The acquisition brought this world-class voice development in-house to fuel innovations for the Kindle ecosystem and what would become the Alexa voice assistant. ivona eric text to speech
The Eric voice is an adult male voice that speaks with a neutral, professional accent. It was built on Ivona's proprietary, award-winning BrightVoice™ technology , which focused on accurate pronunciation and natural prosody. Eric was also part of a much larger family; at its peak, Ivona offered a portfolio of 36 different voices speaking 17 languages .
Since the official Ivona apps are defunct, obtaining Eric requires some technical steps and may involve legacy software: Originally, Eric was available directly through IVONA, but
Founded in 2001 in Poland, Ivona Software started as a university research project before growing into a global speech synthesis powerhouse. In the early 2000s, the text-to-speech market was dominated by robotic, stilted voices that sounded like they were reading a list of ingredients rather than a novel.
In 2013, Amazon Web Services (AWS) bought Ivona. They immediately integrated the technology into (their current TTS service) and Alexa . and authoritative tone.
Among its portfolio, was developed as a premium, high-quality British English male voice. Unlike the robotic, choppy computer voices of the early 2000s, Eric delivered: Smooth vocal inflections. Precise pronunciation of complex British idioms. Natural breathing pauses between sentences. A professional, warm, and authoritative tone. The Secret Behind Eric’s Realistic Sound
Some developers and voice enthusiasts still utilize old offline desktop versions of Ivona 2 Voice engines (like the Ivona Reader). These legacy systems are sometimes found on software archiving sites or specialty accessibility forums, allowing local installation on Windows PCs for offline screen reading. Route 3: Modern AI Voice Cloning