A CUMBRIAN man living with motor neurone disease has helped launch the world’s first e-book which preserves your voice.

A first-of-its-kind e-book which banks people’s voices as they read the story aloud has been launched today for people living with motor neurone disease (MND).

“I Will Always Be Me” is written from the perspective of someone living with MND explaining to their loved ones about the condition and their experience with the disease.

Ulverston’s Alan Towart, who is living with the disease, got the chance to trial this technological breakthrough ahead of its launch and has featured in a video showcasing the book.

The short story, authored by New York Times bestseller Jill Twiss, takes less than half an hour to read and is designed to be an alternative option to a traditional voice banking process – which can take many hours of reading random words and phrases to produce a computerised version of a voice.

Upon finishing I Will Always Be Me, the recording is uploaded and transformed into a digital voice by SpeakUnique within 24 hours which can then be used with communication devices when needed.

Alan said: “When I was first pointed towards voice banking, it was a lot of hard work, to the point where I actually gave up. I seemed to be spending so much time sat recording a load of random sayings and syllables – nothing that meant anything really.”

Alan was able to trial I Will Always Be Me in his home with his wife, Dawn, and daughter, Sophia, while the book was in development.

“The book is an amazing legacy, it just means leaving something everlasting. It’s never going to go away," he said.

I Will Always Be Me is dedicated to the memory of Brian Moss, who died of MND in 2014. His son Stuart, Head of IT Innovation at Rolls Royce, was compelled to help better the lives of other people affected by MND and so, together with the MND Association, brought tech giants from across the world to help find solutions to the problems people with MND face. These include Dell Technologies and Intel, who came together to develop I Will Always Be Me to provide an alternative voice banking option.

The MND Association will provide funding for people with MND living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to take part, thanks to donations from Dell Technologies and Intel.