Earlier this month, Google announced that it was using auto-generated narrators to make more audiobooks available. The Google Play Store now has a collection of free audiobooks created using this method.
The eight fiction and 12 non-fiction works are offered by “Google Play Public Domain.” A four-color Google strip appears on the left edge of the cover image, while the listing specifies what auto-generated voice (ex Michelle, Alistair, etc.) is responsible for the narration. The Play Books app is available on Android, iOS, and Assistant devices to listen.
Select books are now available as auto-narrated audiobooks – for free. Whether you’re a fan of fiction or nonfiction, there’s something for everyone to experience with this new technology.
While Google only just publicized the effort, many of these free Play audiobooks were published on July 31. This is the company’s solution to only the top titles today getting audio versions given that recording is a time-consuming process and does not scale to every published work. The technology for publishers is currently in beta and will be available for all next year.
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Dracula
- Gulliver’s Travels
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
- Frankenstein
- The War of the Worlds
- The Yellow Wallpaper
- The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
- Common Sense
- On the Origin of Species
- A Modest Proposal
- Walden
- Beyond Good and Evil
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
- The Prince
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners
- Alexander Hamilton
- The Art of War
Author: Abner Li
Source: 9TO5Google
