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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared UPDATE 1-Winter storms to distort US jobless figures-Summers 01 Mar 2010 Obama said poised to offer more healthcare changes 01 Mar 2010 RPT-In Texas governor showdown, nice doesn't cut it 8:00am EST Top court considers reach of gun rights 3:14pm EST UPDATE 2-Toyota to announce March incentives in U.S.-source 01 Mar 2010 UPDATE 1-Winter storms to distort US jobless figures-Summers 01 Mar 2010 China PLA officer urges challenging U.S. dominance 28 Feb 2010 Snacks mean U.S. kids moving toward "constant eating" 12:04am EST UPDATE 2-Toyota to announce March incentives in U.S.-source 01 Mar 2010 Consumer group sues California health insurer 11:14am EST Mute Chicago film critic Ebert "voices" Oscar picks Andrew Stern CHICAGO Tue Mar 2, 2010 12:35pm EST Actor, director and Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford (R) smiles next to film critic Roger Ebert following a news conference on the first day of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah January 21, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson CHICAGO (Reuters) - Film critic Roger Ebert, rendered mute by several cancer surgeries, delivered his Oscar picks on Oprah Winfrey's television chat show on Tuesday using his newly synthesized voice fashioned from old audio clips. Entertainment | Oddly Enough | Film "I can't remember a year when it was easier to pick the Oscars. Those may be famous last words," the now cancer-free Ebert, 67, said in a recorded segment on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "The only dicey category is Best Picture," said Ebert, who copyrighted his famous "thumbs-up" or "thumbs-down" ratings created for his pioneering televised review show with Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel, who died of cancer in 1999. Ebert predicted Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" would win the Oscar for best picture, and Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock would win for best actor and actress, respectively. Ebert won a Pulitzer Prize in 1975, the first film critic to do so. Since being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 he has undergone numerous surgeries that have left him without most of his lower jaw and cost him his voice. But he communicates by writing notes, uses crude sign language and "speaks" with the aid of a software program loaded onto his laptop computer that generates a generic voice. 'RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY' A Scottish company, CereProc, that was spun off five years ago by University of Edinburgh researchers, is developing a program just for Ebert that culled hours of his old movie commentaries to give him back a semblance of his own voice. "In my dreams, I'm talking all the time," Ebert told Winfrey. "That's just like I was in life. You could not shut me up." Ebert, who remains a prolific film reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times and sees as many as four movies a day, called his new voice "Roger Jr" in a recent column for the newspaper. "Yes, Roger Jr needs to be smoother in tone and steadier in pacing, but the little rascal is good. To hear him coming from my own computer made me ridiculously happy," Ebert wrote. Winfrey's cameras captured the tearful reaction of Ebert's wife Chaz hearing his voice for the first time in years. "What do you think?" she asked Ebert. "Uncanny. A good feeling," he tapped out on his laptop in reply. CereProc's technology officer Matthew Aylett said in a telephone interview the goal is to produce voices that provide "personality and depth of character." The technology has yet to advance to the point where a person could replicate shouting. Ebert's synthesized voice sounded somewhat flat and lacked inflection. "This is the first version of my computer voice. It needs improvement but it sounds like me," Ebert told Winfrey. The cost of CereProc's software with generic voices -- such as a British-accented voice dubbed "Lawrence" -- is roughly $30 to $40, Aylett said. He would not estimate the cost of a customized voice. In the future, synthesized voices might add warmth to interactions with robots or virtual reality avatars, Aylett said. Someone about to undergo surgery could record their voice beforehand and have it reconstructed after, he said. (Editing by Eric Walsh) Entertainment Oddly Enough Film Add a Comment More from Reuters Wall St edges up on M&A cheer NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Tuesday as mergers and acquisitions activity supported selected sectors, but investors pulled back from recent gains in big-cap technology and bank shares. | Video Obama makes last-ditch health bid to Republicans U.S. auto sales weak Greek PM says sacrifices vital to avert bankruptcy Murdoch doubts N.Y. Times Slim sale speculation Chile steps up aid to desperate quake victims | Video » More Top News The one-man roadblock to jobs Senator Jim Bunning's hard-nosed standoff disrupts benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans and is making fellow Republicans nervous. Full Article Republicans rip on Bunning $3,000 home energy rebates proposed Politics Greece leaves a sour taste Bailing out Greece would be unpopular with Germans but as pressure mounts, speculators are wondering: "When will Merkel move?" Full Article | Video Greek PM sounds alarm on economy Greek crisis: Not all bad news James Saft: Intelligence at work Global Markets © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Analyst Research Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Labs Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts.com Buyouts Europe: Buyouts Conferences: Venture Capital Journal EVCJ International Financing Review International Securitisation Report Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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