Blizzard Challenge 2017 Workshop

The Blizzard Challenge 2017 workshop is a satellite event of Interspeech.

Call for participation

The Blizzard Challenge 2017 Workshop is the culmination of the Blizzard Challenge 2017 which is an open speech synthesis evaluation campaign using common data sets and a large listening test. The aims of the workshop are to present the results from the listening tests and for participants in the Challenge to describe their systems.

Who can attend the workshop ?

The workshop is open to all and we encourage participation from anyone interested in speech synthesis.

Who can submit a paper to the workshop ?

All participants in the Challenge are expected to submit a paper describing their entry (even if they cannot attend the workshop in person). Papers will be refereed by the Programme Committee and the Expert Committee.

Organisers

• Simon King, University of Edinburgh, UK
• Alan W. Black, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
• Keiichi Tokuda, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan

Local arrangements

• Joakim Gustafson, KTH, Sweden
• Joe Mendelson, KTH, Sweden

Paper submission instructions

• Use the Interspeech 2017 authors' kit, but your paper should be SIX pages in length, including bibliography
• Remember that Blizzard is a scientific investigation - we are all trying to understand why some techniques work better than others.
• With this in mind, please write a detailed, technical paper aimed at a specialist audience. Focus on analysis and evaluation. Try to explain WHY your system performed the way it did, and what makes it different from other systems. Explain why your system is designed in a particular way. For example, report internal evaluations you have done to select certain methods.
• Submit your paper by email to blizzard@festvox.org by the deadline given in the official timeline and we will notify you of acceptance within a week. If you need an earlier notification (e.g., in order to obtain travel permission from your employer), then please contact us.

Location and date

Date: Friday 25th August 2017

Registration opens at 08.00. Workshop starts at 08.30 (we're working to Scandinavian time!)

Venue: Konferens Spårvagnshallarna, Stockholm

Programme

The workshop format is single-track with oral presentations from the participants in the Challenge, and the organizers.

Each system presentation slot is 20 minutes and presenters should speak for 15 minutes to allow time for questions and changeover. Presenters should bear in mind that the audience will mainly comprise speech synthesis experts; therefore presentations do not need to include extensive background material, but should focus on technical detail and go deep in to the specifics of each system. Please bring your own laptop to present, and a video adapter if you need one.

Presentations must include plenty of audio examples to illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the system! We suggest including at least one paragraph in your audio examples, as well as several individual sentences.

The venue this year is a professional conference centre with strictly limited capacity, and we have to tell them the exact number of attendees in advance. Therefore all attendees must obtain tickets in advance. The schedule is

• 08.00 Registration (and coffee TBC)
  • bring your Eventbrite ticket on paper or on your device

• 08.30 - 09.30 Welcome, introduction, sponsors, summary of results
  • Welcome from Simon King, on behalf of the organisers
  • Message from sponsor, Apple
  • Message from sponsor, Google
  • Summary of Blizzard Challenge 2017 from Simon King

• 09.30 - 10.30 System presentations: 3 x 20 minutes (15 mins presentation + 5 minutes questions)
  • NLPR
  • MaryTTS
  • UTokyo

• 10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break

• 11.00 - 12.00 System presentations: 3 x 20 minutes (15 mins presentation + 5 minutes questions)
  • CMU
  • IRISA
  • USTC_NELSLIP

• 12.00 - 13.30 Lunch break
  • Catering will be provided

• 13.30 - 14.30 System presentations: 3 x 20 minutes (15 mins presentation + 5 minutes questions)
  • I2R_NWPU
  • IIITH
  • Alibaba_IDST

• 14.30 - 15.00 Coffee break

• 15.00 - 16.00 System presentations: 3 x 20 minutes (15 mins presentation + 5 minutes questions)
  • CSTR
  • NITech
  • IFLYTEK

• 16.00 - 17.00 Conclusion
  • Announcements
  • Call for proposals for the 2018 Challenge from Simon King
  • Call for assistance in co-organising future challenges
  • Wrap-up, final discussion about future Blizzard Challenges

• 18.00 evening social event at The Flying Dog

(Note: team CUED are not able to attend)

Practical information

Registration procedure

Advance registration is required. Deadline for team registration is 10th August 2017. After this date, all spare tickets will be made generally available, with a final registration deadline of 16th August.

Please bring your ticket with you on the day (on paper or smartphone). DO NOT just turn up on the day without a ticket.

PLEASE SELECT THE CORRECT TICKET TYPE !

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blizzard-challenge-2017-workshop-tickets-36055433773

The venue has asked us collect dietary requirements. Once you have a ticket, please provide this information via this short survey. If you don't respond, you'll get the default lunch choice, which will be fish.

Cost

There is no cost to attend the Blizzard Workshop, thanks to our generous sponsors Apple and Google.

Accommodation and travel

No accommodation is arranged by the workshop: please make your own arrangements.

Published proceedings

The papers are published on festvox.org