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Updated: May 25, 2025

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Impact of Emotional Prosodies on Voice Recognition and Perception
Published on: August 9, 2024
Understanding voice naturalness
Christine Nussbaum1, Sascha Frühholz2, Stefan R Schweinberger3
1Department for General Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany; Voice Research Unit, Friedrich Schiller University, 07743 Jena, Germany; The Voice Communication Sciences (VoCS) MSCA Doctoral Network.
Abstract:
The perceived naturalness of a voice is a prominent property emerging from vocal sounds, which affects our interaction with both human and artificial agents. Despite its importance, a systematic understanding of voice naturalness is elusive. This is due to (i) conceptual underspecification, (ii) heterogeneous operationalization, (iii) lack of exchange between research on human and synthetic voices, and (iv) insufficient anchoring in voice perception theory. This review reflects on current insights into voice naturalness by pooling evidence from a wider interdisciplinary literature. Against that backdrop, it offers a concise definition of naturalness and proposes a conceptual framework rooted in both empirical findings and theoretical models. Finally, it identifies gaps in current understanding of voice naturalness and sketches perspectives for empirical progress.
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