Areas of interest

• speech and signal processing
• human-computer interaction
• accessibility
• computational intelligence
• robotics

Short CV

Spyros Raptis received his diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering (1994) and the Doctoral Degree (2001) in Computational Intelligence from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Since 1006 he has been a member of the Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP/R.C."Athena"). He is now a  Research Director at the Speech and Music Technology Department and coordinates the research and development activities of the Speech Synthesis Group.

He has been actively involved in a number of national and European R&D projects undertaking research, development and administrative roles.

As a member of the Intelligent Robotics and Automation Laboratory of NTUA, has actively participated in the teaching activities of the Department and the supervision of student diploma theses in the area of robotics and automation.

During 2004-2005 he has been a lecturer at the Naval Engineering Department of NTUA where he undertook the teaching of the course "Expert systems in ship design and operation" of the 8th semester.

In the context of "Technologlossia", an interdisciplinary post-graduate programme in language technology which is jointly organised by the Department of Greek Philology (at the National and Capodistrian University of Athens) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (NTUA), he undertook the teaching of the courses "Speech production, representation and synthesis" and "Computational intelligence: Fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms". In the context of the interdisciplinary post-graduate programme "Digital Forms of Art" that was jointly organised by the School of Fine Arts (ASFA) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (NTUA), he has co-organised and supervised the laboratory part of the course "Intelligent and complex systems".

Dr. Raptis has participated in the core team of the development of the "Ekfonitis" system and its follow-up versions, which is one of the first text-to-speech synthesisers for the Greek language.

He is the author or co-author of more than 40 publications in scientific books, journals and international conferences in the areas of speech processing, computational intelligence, and music technology.

• Raptis, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Sotiris Karabetsos. (2016). Expressive speech synthesis for storytelling: the INNOETICS’entry to the blizzard challenge 2016. In Proc. Blizzard Challenge workshop. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Panos Kakoulidis. (2016). Enhancing the accessibility of e-learning platforms through synthetic speech. In Proceedings of the 20th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics, pages 37. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Giagkou, M. (2016). From capturing to generating human behavior: closing the interaction loop at the HUBIC Lab. In Proceedings of the 20th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics (PCI) with International Participation. ACM. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Karabetsos, S., Chalamandaris, A. & Tsiakoulis, P. (2015). A framework towards expressive speech analysis and synthesis with preliminary results. Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, 9(4), 387-394. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Karabetsos, S., Chalamandaris, A. & Tsiakoulis, P. (2014). Towards expressive speech synthesis: Analysis and modeling of expressive speech. In 2014 5th IEEE Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom), pages 461-465. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Karabetsos, S. & Raptis, S. (2014). Using Audio Books for Training a Text-to-Speech System.. In LREC, pages 3076-3080. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S (2014). Open Web-Based Text-to-Speech Services for the Citizens. " HCI International 2014 - Communications in Computer and Information Science". Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Tsiakoulis, P., Karabetsos, S., Chalamandaris, A. & Raptis, S (2014). An Overview of the ILSP Unit Selection Text-to-Speech Synthesis System. In A. Likas, K., Blekas, D. & Kalles (editors), " Artificial Intelligence: Methods and Applications Lecture Notes in Computer Science.". Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Raptis, S. (2013). Exploring latent structure in expressive speech. In 2013 IEEE 4th International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom), pages 741-746. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Karabetsos, S. & Raptis, S. (2013). An Automated Method for Creating New Synthetic Voices from Audiobooks. In Proc. 6th Language & Technology Conference: Human Language Technologies as a Challenge for Computer Science and Linguistics (LTC 2013). [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Karabetsos, S. & Raptis, S. (2013). The ILSP/INNOETICS Text-to-Speech System for the Blizzard Challenge 2013. In The Blizzard Challenge 2013 workshop. Reykjavik, Iceland Barcelona, Spain. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S. (2012). The ILSP Text-to-Speech System for the Blizzard Challenge 2012. In The Blizzard Challenge 2012. Portland, Oregon, USA. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S (2011). Corpus Design for a Unit Selection TtS System with Application to Bulgarian. In Z. Vetulani (editor), Human Language Technology. Challenges for Computer Science and Linguistics. Berlin/Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S. (2011). The ILSP Text-to-Speech System for the Blizzard Challenge 2011. In The Blizzard Challenge 2011. Turin, Italy. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S. (2010). The ILSP Text-to-Speech System for the Blizzard Challenge 2010. In Proc. Blizzard Challenge 2010 Workshop. Kyoto, Japan. [...] 
• Karabetsos, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Raptis, S. (2010). One-Class Classification for Spectral Join Cost Calculation in Unit Selection Speech Synthesis. IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 17(8), 746-749. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Karabetsos, S., Tsiakoulis, P. & Raptis, S. (2010). A Unit Selection Text-to-Speech Synthesis System Optimized for Use with Screen Readers. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 56(3), 1890-1897. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Raptis, S. & Karabetsos, S. (2009). Design of an Efficient Corpus for High-Quality Unit Selection TTS for Bulgarian. In Proc. 4th Language & Technology Conference: Human Language Technologies as a Challenge for Computer Science and Linguistics. Poland. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Karabetsos, S. & Raptis, S. (2009). An Efficient and Robust Pitch Marking Algorithm on the Speech Waveform for TD-PSOLA. In Proc. Intl. IEEE Conference on Signal and Image Processing Applications (ICSIPA). Malaysia. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Karabetsos, S. (2009). High Quality Unit-Selection Speech Synthesis for Bulgarian. In Proc. 13th International Conference on Speech and Computer (SPECOM'2009). St. Petersburg, Russia. [...] 
• Karabetsos, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Raptis, S. (2009). Embedded Unit Selection Text-to-Speech Synthesis for Mobile Devices. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 56(2). [...] 
• Raptis, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Karabetsos, S (2009). User Interaction Design for a Home-Based Telecare System. In A. Holzinger & K. Miesenberger (editors), Human-computer interaction and Usability for eInclusion. Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Raptis, S., Tsiakoulis, P. & Karabetsos, S (2009). Enhancing Accessibility of Web Content for the Print-Impaired and Blind People. In A. Holzinger & K. Miesenberger (editors), Human-computer interaction and Usability for eInclusion. Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A., Karabetsos, S. & Raptis, S. (2008). A Statistical Method for Database Reduction for Embedded Unit Selection Speech Synthesis. In IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP 2008), pages 759-762. USA, Las Vegas. [...] 
• Karabetsos, S., Tsiakoulis, P., Chalamandaris, A. & Raptis, S (2008). HMM-based Speech Synthesis for the Greek Language. In Petr Sojka, Ivan Kopecek & Karel Pala (editors), Text, Speech and Dialogue. Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Demiros, I., Carayannis, G., Antonopoulos, V., Kambourakis, G., Katsouros, V., Kolevris, P. et al. (2008). PANOPTIS: a System for Intelligent Monitoring of the Hellenic Broadcast Sector. In Proceedings of the 19th International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Application, 2008. DEXA '08., pages 605 - 609. Turin. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, E. (2007). Robot Inverse Kinematics via Neural and Neurofuzzy Networks: Architectural and Computational Aspects for Improved Performance. Journal of Information and Optimization Sciences, 28(6), 905-933. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Protopapas, A., Tsiakoulis, P. & Raptis, S. (2006). All Greek to me! An automatic Greeklish to Greek Transliteration System. In 5th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2006). Genoa, Italy. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Spais, I. & Tsiakoulis, P. (2005). A Tool for Enhancing Web Accessibility: Synthetic Speech and Content Restructuring. In Proc. HCII 2005: 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Las Vegas, USA. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Askenfelt, A., Fober, D., Chalamandaris, A., Schoonderwaldt, E., Letz, S. et al. (2005). IMUTUS – An Effective Practicing Environment For Music Tuition. In International Computer Music Conference (ICMC 2005). Barcelona, Spain. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Raptis, S. & Tsiakoulis, P. (2005). Rule-based grapheme-to-phoneme method for the Greek. In Proc. Interspeech’2005: 9th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology. Lisbon, Portugal. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Chalamandaris, A. (2005). IMUTUS - Interactive Music Tuition System. In 5th Open MusicNetwork Workshop. Vienna, Austria. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Raptis, S., Giannopoulos, G. & Carayannis, G. (2004). Bypassing Greeklish!. In Proc. LREC 2004: 4th International Conference on Language Resources And Evaluation. Lisbon, Portugal. [...] 
• Chalamandaris, A., Tsiakoulis, P., Raptis, S. & Giannopoulos, G. (2004). An Efficient and Robust Algorithm for Bypassing Greeklish. In Proc. IC-SCCE 2004: 1st International Conference from Scientific Computing to Computational Engineering, pages 8-10 September. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Raptis, S. & Pimenides, T. (2003). Genetic Algorithm-Based Fuzzy System Design Using a New Representation Scheme. Studies in Informatics and Control, 12(2), 91-99. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Tzafestas, S. & Carayannis, G. (2001). Semi-Automatic Parameter Extraction for Formant Speech Synthesis: The Genetic Algorithms Case. In Proc. The 4th European Conference on Noise Control (Euronoise 2001). Greece. [...] 
• Malliopoulos, C., Raptis, S., Bakamidis, S. & Georgaki, A. (2001). Music Editors for Visually Impaired Persons: User Interface Specifications and System Design. In Int’l Conference on Web Delivering of Music 2001. Florence, Italy. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Tzafestas, S. & Karagianni, H (2001). Optimal Genetic Representation of Complete Strictly-Layered Feedforward Neural Networks. In Jose Mira & Alberto Prieto (editors), Bio-inspired Applications of Connectionism. Berlin / Heidelberg : Springer. [...] 
• Georgaki, A., Raptis, S., Bakamidis, S. & Malliopoulos, C. (2000). Ανάπτυξη Συστήματος Διακίνησης και Επεξεργασίας της Μουσικής Πληροφορίας μέσω του Διαδικτύου για Τυφλούς Μουσικούς στο Πλαίσιο του Κοινοτικού Προγράμματος WEDELMUSIC. In Δεύτερο Συμπόσιο Μουσικής Πληροφορικής. Ιόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο, Κέρκυρα. [...] 
• Georgaki, A., Raptis, S. & Bakamidis, S. (2000). A Music Interface for Visually Impaired People in the WEDELMUSIC Environment. Design and Architecture. In International Symposium on Music Information Retrieval, MUSIC IR 2000. Plymouth, Massachusetts. [...] 
• Georgaki, A., Raptis, S. & Bakamidis, S. (2000). A Music Interface for Visually Impaired People in the WedelMusic Environment: Design and Architecture. In Proc. MUSIC IR2000: Intl. Symposium on Music Information Retrieval. Plymouth, Massachusetts. [...] 
• Economou, N., Raptis, S. & Stainhaouer, G. (2000). Educational software for the teaching of terminology in Lyceum: the case of Lexipoigissi [in Greek]. In Οικονόμου Κ., Ράπτης Σ. & Σταϊνχάουερ Γ. (editors), Information and Communication Technologies in Education [in Greek], pages 352-360. Θεσσαλονίκη. [...] 
• Economou, N., Raptis, S. & Stainhaouer, G. (2000). LEXIPLOIGISSI: An Educational Platform for the Teaching of Terminology in Greece. In Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, pages 1787-1792. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Raptis, S. & Moschos, N. (1999). A Hybrid Pricing Expert System Based on Fuzzy Reasoning. Found. Comp. & Decision Sci., 24(4), 171-187. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1998). A Blueprint for a Genetic Meta-Algorithm. In Proc. EUFIT’98: 6th European Congress on Intelligent Techniques and Soft Computing. Aachen, Germany. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1998). Genetic Design of Fuzzy Systems Based on a Novel Representation Scheme. In Proc. CESA ‘98, IMACS and IEEE-SMC Symposium on Robotics and Cybernetics. Nabeul-Hammamet, Tunisia. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1998). Genetic Evolution of Neural Networks Based on Subpopulation Schemes. In Proc. SoftCom’98: IMACS International Symposium on Soft Computing in Engineering Applications. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Raptis, S., Malliopoulos, C., Bakamidis, S. & Stainhaouer, G. (1998). A Speech Agent for Remote E-Mail Access. In Proc. The 4th IEEE workshop on Interactive Voice Technology for Telecommunications Applications and ESCA Tutorial and Research Workshop on Applications of Speech Technology in Telecommunications. Torino, Italy. [...] 
• Tzafestas, E., Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1998). Multi-Agent Robot Architectures: The Decomposition Issue and a Case Study. The International Journal of Artificial Intelligence Tools, 7(2), 163-187. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S. & Raptis, S. (1997). Neural Networks for Inverse Kinematics. In Proc. The Third ECPD International Conference on Advanced Robotics, Intelligent Automation, and Active Systems. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Carayannis, G. (1997). Fuzzy Logic for Rule-Based Formant Speech Synthesis. In Proc. EuroSpeech’97. Rhodes, Greece. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1997). Agent-Like Neurofuzzy Architectures for Mobile Robot Path Planning. Studies in Informatics and Control, 6(4), 303-317. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Anthopoulos, Y., Raptis, S., Katevas, N. & Spyropoulou, E. (1996). Design and Functional Issues of an Intelligent Car-Disassembly Robotic Cell. In Proc. IMACS and IEEE-SMC Symposium on Robotics and Cybernetics (CESA ‘96). Lille, France. [...] 
• Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1996). A Fuzzy Controller with Self-Formatting Rules Supervised by an Expert System for Robot Path Planning in Unknown Environments. In Proc. World Automation Congress’96: The First International Symposium on Intelligent Automation and Control. Montpellier, France. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Raptis, S. & Pantazopoulos, J. (1996). Vision-Based Trajectory Planning for a Robot-Mounted Welding Gun. In Proc. Second ECPD Conference on Advanced Robotics, Intelligent Automation and Active Systems. Vienna, Austria. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Raptis, S. & Pantazopoulos, J. (1996). A Vision-Based Path Planning Algorithm for a Robot-Mounted Welding Gun. Image Processing & Communications, 2(4). [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Raptis, S. & Stamou, G. (1996). A Flexible Neurofuzzy Cell Structure for General Fuzzy Inference. Mathematics & Computers in Simulation, 41, 219-233. [...] 
• Stamou, G., Raptis, S. & Tzafestas, S. (1995). An Agent-Like Architecture for Autonomous Robot Motion in Unknown Environment. In Proceedings of the First ECPD Conference on Advanced Robotics and Intelligent Automation, pages 452-457. Athens, Greece. [...] 
• Tzafestas, S., Katevas, N., Spyropoulou, E., Anthopoulos, J. & Raptis, S. (1995). Intelligent Integrated Robotic System for Car Disassembly. In. Athens, Greece. [...]