Respeecher

To train its AI system, Respeecher uses recorded voices from a "target voice". The system then transforms the lines of a "source speaker" into a new, replicated voice. Dmytro Bielievtsov, Respeecher's chief technical officer, stated that Lucasfilm became aware of their technology and contacted them after "someone posted about our tech in an internal sound engineering chat." In The Mandalorian's second season finale, "Chapter 16: The Rescue," aired on December 18, 2020, Mark Hamill reprised his role as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, and Respeecher modified Hamill's voice to match his younger tone from the original trilogy (1977–1983). Respeecher once again utilized Hamill's voice to create the voice of a young Luke Skywalker for The Book of Boba Fett's February 2, 2022 episode, "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger."

James Earl Jones, the original voice of Darth Vader in his mechanized suit, recorded a short line for the 2019 sequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker with Matthew Wood at Skywalker Sound. Wood recalled Jones mentioning his intention to reduce his involvement in Star Wars. Consequently, during the production of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a television series directed by Deborah Chow in the United States, Skywalker Sound engaged Respeecher to generate Vader's voice using archived recordings of Jones' performance.

Matthew Wood showed James Earl Jones the work done by Respeecher. The seasoned actor formally gave his consent for his archived voice to be synthesized for Lucasfilm projects like Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also provided advice and guidance on how to use his artificial voice, with Wood describing him as "a benevolent godfather." Deborah Chow, Wood, and the Respeecher team communicated frequently while creating Vader's lines, including making changes and fine-tuning what Wood estimated to be "50 lines" and therefore "almost over 10,000 files." As they worked, Respeecher prepared for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as part of the Russian regime's war against Ukraine, which had begun in 2014. Although Matthew Wood began to reduce his requests for Respeecher in the days leading up to the expected attack, Wood recalled that the Ukrainians' attitude was: "Let's work, let's work in the face of this adversity, let's persevere."

Working from Lviv in western Ukraine, Bogdan Belyaev, a synthetic speech artist, hurried to finish Vader's voice and send it to Skywalker Sound on February 24, 2022. On that day, armed forces from Russia and Belarus attacked Ukraine. Belyaev continued to work even as he and his family sought shelter in their bathroom from Russian missiles. Other Respeecher employees in Kyiv worked from the corridors of their apartments or from shelters like a theater or a small, brick-built structure. Upon hearing the news from Ukraine in the United States, Matthew Wood was worried about the Ukrainians' well-being and did not want their work to put them in any more danger. Alex Serdiuk, Respeecher's chief executive officer, expressed his hope that more people would recognize the company's economic, social, and technological contributions and learn about Ukraine's struggle and resilience. Bielievtsov was happy with Respeecher's preparations to keep employees safe while delivering the Star Wars project and noted that the Russian invasion only delayed other projects by "up to a day."

Respeecher's work on Darth Vader's voice is featured in episodes third, fourth, fifth, and sixth of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The third episode was released on June 1, 2022, on Disney+, and Respeecher staff in Kyiv gathered to watch Vader's first appearance in the series. The team also called Belyaev to cheer for him, as after completing his work on Vader, he volunteered to help fellow Ukrainians in Lviv who had been displaced by the war. James Earl Jones' family informed Matthew Wood that they were pleased with the work on Vader's voice. Respeecher also worked on replicating the Hungarian version of Darth Vader in about two weeks in 2022, based on the Hungarian dubbing of the character by the iconic voice actor Lajos Kránitz before he passed away in 2005. Kránitz's two sons worked as recording engineer and dubbing director for the Hungarian localization of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and they gave legal permission for their father's voice to be processed. The "voice cloning" took longer than usual because the original samples were of poor quality, but it was completed in time to bring Kránitz's voice back to life for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Beyond its achievements in Hollywood and the gaming industry, as well as its awards in film, television, and advertising, Respeecher has invested in other applications for content creation, cybersecurity, the ethical development of artificial intelligence, and healthcare. One example is helping laryngectomy patients speak with their natural voices in 2022. That same year, Respeecher engineers also helped develop Ukraine's "Zvook" acoustic detection system, which identifies active missiles, helicopters, drones, and jet fighters. In 2023, Mark Hamill voiced the English-language version of the Ukrainian "Air Alert" app by other technology developers as Luke Skywalker, warning about incoming bombardments.

• The Mandalorian — " Chapter 16: The Rescue "
• The Book of Boba Fett — " Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger "
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — " Part III "
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — " Part IV "
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — " Part V "
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — " Part VI "

• Respeecher.com
• Respeecher on Wikipedia