Transform Any Book into Personalized Audiobook Using Self-recording Methods
In an exciting development for avid readers, a new project called PageParrot is revolutionising the way we consume physical books. Created by Nick Bild, the innovative system leverages AI technology to read pages from a physical book and convert them into an audiobook format [1].
The hardware setup for PageParrot is straightforward, requiring a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, a USB webcam, and a device to hold the camera above the book [1]. The system uses the CV2 library, an interface to OpenCV, to handle the camera interfacing, capturing clear images of book pages at full HD resolution [1].
Once the images are captured, they are sent to Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash large language model (LLM) API. The AI model interprets the images, which are essentially photos of black and white printed text, and converts the visual glyphs into digital text using its multimodal capabilities enhanced by language understanding [1]. This step is akin to optical character recognition (OCR), but with the added advantage of AI-powered language understanding.
With the text extracted, the system can generate audio using AI voice synthesis, effectively turning the physical book page into spoken words, creating a DIY audiobook experience [1]. The script in PageParrot hands the text over to Piper, which converts it into a speech file in WAV format.
Impressively, the entire sequence from capturing an image to reading out the text is achieved with roughly 80 lines of Python code, largely relying on existing libraries and APIs to do the heavy lifting [1].
PageParrot demonstrates the accessibility of modern multimodal models in image interpretation. In the past, similar setups used Tesseract OCR and Fed Festvox's CMU Flite tool. However, the AI version of PageParrot is remarkably low-effort and surprisingly accurate, especially when handling unusual layouts.
Extensions to the PageParrot tool could include adjusting the prompt to translate the text to a different language, making it a versatile tool for readers worldwide. The PageParrot GitHub page provides a download for the script, and the converted speech file can be played to an audio device using the console aplay tool.
For those interested in recreating a distinctive 1980s Speak & Spell voice, an ESP32-based software phoneme synthesiser is available. With PageParrot, the world of physical books becomes more accessible than ever before, making reading a joy for all.
[1] Bild, N. (2022). PageParrot: An AI-Based DIY Device for Reading Physical Books Aloud. Retrieved from https://github.com/nickbild/pageparrot
- To create a DIY audiobook experience from physical books, one might consider using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, USB webcam, and a book holder, similar to the hardware setup for the PageParrot project.
- The PageParrot system, like other modern multimodal models, uses AI technology for image interpretation, making it possible to convert black and white printed text into digital text, although it previously would have required Tesseract OCR and Fed Festvox's CMU Flite tool.
- If you are passionate about both programming and the lifestyle that technology and DIY projects represent, you might find it intriguing that PageParrot, a project that revolutionizes the reading experience by converting physical books into audiobooks, is largely built using Python and existing libraries and APIs.
