Games/Interactive
WP Engine Uses Amazon Web Services to Bring Voice Technology to WordPress Websites (MESA)
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WP Engine announced its collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch the Amazon Polly plugin, which transforms text into lifelike speech. With the assistance of the Amazon Polly plugin, publishers can turn their written content into podcasts to reach consumers on the go.
“Amazon Polly allows developers to convert text to lifelike speech, using the same technology that powers Amazon Alexa,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Machine Learning at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “With its natural, lifelike voices and a wide selection of languages, we are excited to have Amazon Polly be the voice for WordPress and provide an alternative way for customers to consume their WordPress content and meet the needs of a larger audience.”
Available in the WP Engine Solution Center, the Amazon Polly plugin is an open source integration for AWS’s text-to-speech functionality with WordPress, the most popular content management system which powers 29 percent of the web. The Amazon Polly plugin integrates effortlessly — enabling content creators to easily add text-to-speech capabilities to any written content. With millions of voice-driven devices being shipped every year, brands need to think about building new voice-driven experiences for users.
Plus, with more voice-enabled searches, brands need to build audio content that works in emerging channels such as inline audio players and podcast mobile applications.
The Amazon Polly plugin leverages AWS’s artificial intelligence (AI) services, bringing the power of AWS’s natural text-to-speech technology to content on WordPress. With Amazon Polly, publishers can create podcasts available on iTunes based on the site’s WordPress taxonomy including author and category, creating targeted streams to reach audiences interested in specific topics.
Particularly as younger generations shift to accessing content and the web through voice commands, the need for technology to meet their increasing demands continues to rise. A national study commissioned by WP Engine and conducted by The Center for Generational Kinetics, found 70% of consumers (aged 14-59) believe that we will interact with the Internet by voice or movements rather than keyboard or mice within the five years.
