May 28, 2022 12:00:00

I tried using the extension 'Caption Speaker' that automatically translates and reads out YouTube subtitles.

When playing YouTube videos in languages other than Japanese, you can view subtitles and use the automatic subtitle translation feature, but this will require you to continue reading the subtitles. However, if you use the extension ' CaptionSpeaker ', the subtitles will be automatically translated and read aloud, so I tried to see what it actually looks like.

CaptionSpeaker-Chrome Web Store

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/captionspeaker/infafaffjndfcflcoemolnggghgoodce

GitHub --limura / CaptionSpeaker: CaptionSpeaker is a chrome extension that allows you to hear the subtitles displayed on youtube by speaking them.
https://github.com/limura/CaptionSpeaker

'Caption Speaker' is distributed only for Chrome at the time of article creation. First, access the extension distribution page and click 'Add to Chrome'.

Then click 'Add Extension'.

Then, you will immediately be taken to the Caption Speaker settings page. By default, the subtitles are translated into Japanese and read aloud, and you can set the pitch, speed, loudness, etc. of your voice from this page.

With the default settings, I played the science video '

NASA ScienceCasts: Earth's Magnetosphere ' released by NASA. It's a machine translation, so it's not perfect Japanese, but it translates well and reads it aloud. However, the reading speed is slow and I can't keep up with the reading speed of the original video, and it also makes it a little difficult to hear because it overlaps with the reading of the original video.

I tried using 'Caption Speaker' that automatically translates and reads out YouTube subtitles-YouTube


So, I decided to play with the settings a little. Click the extension icon in the upper right corner of Chrome, click the hamburger menu from the Caption Speaker column, and click 'Options'.

First, set the voice speed to 2 so that you can keep up with the speed of the original video. Next, check the 'Lower the volume of the original video during utterance (specify by ratio)' check box, and set the slider to 0.5. This will reduce the volume of the original video to half the normal volume, so it should be a little easier to hear. Don't forget to click Save to save your settings.

And I tried playing the same video again. The read-aloud speed has caught up with the original video due to the increased speed, and the volume of the original video has been lowered, making the read-aloud voice much easier to hear.

I tried using 'Caption Speaker' which automatically translates and reads out YouTube subtitles at double the reading speed --YouTube


In addition to the default voice (Microsoft Ayumi), Microsoft Haruka, Microsoft Ayumi, Microsoft Ichiro, and Google Japanese are available for reading aloud, and you can choose your favorite voice. It is also possible to translate the voice into a language other than Japanese and read it aloud.

Using the

video of ' VOICE AVATAR Nana Voice Nina ' that anyone can easily convert to a beautiful girl's voice from a browser, I asked them to translate Japanese into English and read it aloud. The human voice was read aloud, but the machine-generated voice was not recognized by YouTube as a voice, or the subtitles were not generated in the first place and it was not read aloud. Caption Speaker translates and plays 'only when the video has subtitles', so if there is no subtitles like this time, reading will fail.

I tried translating Japanese into English using 'Caption Speaker' that automatically translates and reads out YouTube subtitles-YouTube


If you leave the extension installed and do not make any settings, the YouTube video will start reading each time you open it. To prevent this, click the extension icon in the upper right corner of Chrome and click the pin mark ...

It is also recommended to make it resident on the toolbar. You can turn on / off the reading function at any time by clicking the icon that says 'Read subtitles'.