Turin, Italy and Barcelona, Spain - Loquendo, leading provider of speech technology, and Activa Multimedia, specialized in the creation of multimedia technologies and digital content, announce the integration of Loquendo TTS into Activa Multimedia's virtual character generator, known as iVAC (interactive Virtual Automatic Characters).

Activa Multimedia's iVAC product line generates multimedia output based on virtual animated characters. The system enables the automatic production of video for TV, Internet and any mobile device.

Activa Multimedia's characters are now able to speak using any of Loquendo's highly expressive, natural sounding voices, making them ideally suited for web, mobile or TV applications.

The iVAC can extract information from a database and make the characters read it in a truly human-like voice in a wide range of languages. Once the system has been set up it can automatically generate an unlimited amount of animated characters at a very low cost. No human intervention is required throughout the whole process except for the feeding of the database.

An intelligent system, complete with an expressive voice and an animated face, greatly improves communication between people and machines because language understanding depends on visual as well as auditory cues. Virtual characters are very effective at humanising our interactions with computers and make the process far more pleasant and personal.

About Loquendo - Vocal Technology and Services
With over 30 years experience in speech technology, Loquendo is at the forefront of the global speech market. Loquendo TTS, Loquendo ASR, Loquendo Speaker Verification and the Loquendo VoiceXML and CCXML Platform are high-quality, high-performance technologies that guarantee systems integrators the best solutions in 20 languages with 47 voices.

Loquendo is the only speech technology vendor that provides a complete product line for navigation and handheld devices, desktop PCs and telephony servers, guaranteeing the same portfolio of languages and the same core engine in all these environments.

Many enterprises and carriers worldwide have recognized the Loquendo difference, advanced technologies that power millions of calls every day in telecommunications and enterprise markets across the globe.

Loquendo is a Telecom Italia company headquartered in Turin, Italy, with offices in the US, Spain, Germany and France, and a worldwide network of partners. For more information about Loquendo, and to hear demos of all the Loquendo voices, go to www.loquendo.com.

About Activa Multimedia Digital
Activa Multimedia Digital was founded in 1997 and it is a subsidiary of the Corporació Catalana de Ràdio i Televisió group (Catalan Broadcasting Corporation). Its corporate aims are to develop activities covering the introduction of digital technology and new communication media. The Catalan Broadcasting Corporation is a public company from the Catalan Government, owns Catalonia's public radio and television networks and a number of communication and service companies, including Activa Multimedia Digital.

Activa Multimedia is a supplier of systems and services for the audiovisual world, specializing in all-in-one interactive solutions for digital TV, automatic content publication and participation, as well as production and management software. It is also Spain's leading weather content supplier for all media: newspapers, television networks, web sites, mobile telephone operators, etc. In October 2005, thanks to its experience in meteorology and in automatic content, Activa Multimedia presented Sam, the world's first virtual, automatic weatherman for television, the Internet and cell phones.

For more information about the company and its business lines, visit www.activamultimedia.com.