feat: Inter-Sentence Pause Interval & Speech Pacing Controls

[hrshjswniii]

🚀 Program

GSSoC

✨ Feature Description

Add configurable inter-sentence pause timing (0ms to 2000ms delay) and speech pacing controls to voiceSettings.js and VoiceQuickSettings.jsx.

🤔 Problem It Solves

Synthesized speech engines often pronounce multi-sentence paragraphs back-to-back without natural pauses, making it difficult for listeners (especially elderly or hearing-impaired individuals) to process complex AAC messages.

💡 Proposed Solution

1. Add sentencePauseMs: 500 to DEFAULT_VOICE_SETTINGS in voiceSettings.js.
2. Render an Inter-Sentence Pause (ms) slider (0ms – 2000ms) in VoiceQuickSettings.jsx.
3. In useTTS.js, split multi-sentence input (., !, ?) and insert configurable timing pauses between speech utterance chunks.

🔄 Alternatives Considered

Manual comma insertions by the user, which adds friction to speech composition.

📸 Mockups / Examples

A slider in Voice Quick Settings titled "Inter-Sentence Pause" with range 0ms to 2000ms.

✅ Acceptance Criteria

• sentencePauseMs setting persists in localStorage.
• Multi-sentence text inputs pause for the selected duration between sentences during synthesis playback.
• Slider displays live millisecond readout in VoiceQuickSettings.jsx.

📋 Additional Context

Improves speech naturalness and listener comprehension.

🌱 Contributor Checklist

• I am participating via GSSoC
• I have read the contribution guidelines
• I checked for existing issues before creating this

[github-actions]

✅ Issue Passed Validation

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Waiting for mentor review — a mentor will triage this before it's opened for contributions.

Hey @hrshjswniii! 🎉 Your GSSoC feature request looks great — all checks passed! gssoc26 needs maintainer review enhancement applied.

A mentor will review scope and priority, then apply required labels.
⚠️ Do not start work until the issue is approved and assigned to you.

📣 @sabeenaviklar @Anushreebasics @itsdakshjain @snehkris @1754riya @Mrigakshi-Rathore @Itzzavdheshh @Nitya-003 @4f4d @lovestaco — GSSoC issue ready for your review! 👀

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[hrshjswniii]

Hiiii @sabeenaviklar @Anushreebasics @itsdakshjain @snehkris @1754riya @Mrigakshi-Rathore @Itzzavdheshh @Nitya-003 @4f4d @lovestaco , I'd like to work on this issue as part of GSSoC
please assign this issue to me !!

[github-actions]

🙋 Assignment Request Received

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Hey @hrshjswniii! 🎉 Thanks for volunteering — your request is now visible to maintainers.

⚠️ Please wait for an official assignment before starting any work.

In the meantime, feel free to explore other open issues! 🔍

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