Creative agency Virtue has partnered with Copenhagen Pride to develop the world's first genderless voice, which aims to eradicate bias in technology.
Called Q, the gender-neutral voice provides an alternative to technology such as Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant that all use female voices for home and service-orientated roles.
"As voice-assisted platforms become more pervasive in our lives, technology companies are continuing to gender their voice tech to fit scenarios in which they believe consumers will feel more comfortable adopting and using it," said Virtue.
"A male voice is used in more authoritative roles, such as banking and insurance apps, and a female in more service-orientated roles, such as Alexa and Siri," explained the agency. Five voices were recorded and modulated
To begin with, Virtue worked together with Anna Jørgensen, a linguist and researcher at the University of Copenhagen, to define what is meant by a gender-neutral voice.
Five voices that were not immediately associated with either male or female binaries were recorded. These were then modulated using a special voice software that uses Jørgensen's research on gendered voices to "neutralise" the voices.
The modulated voices were tested in a Europe-wide survey with over 4,600 participants, where people were asked to rate each voice on a scale of one (male) to five (female).
After settling on a single voice, the design studio modulated the voice and tested it until it w...