Dysarthria, or dysarthric speech, can be caused by a number of motor, speech, and language disorders that affect the physiological resources we use to produce speech. The way in which the speech is impacted varies between speakers and their conditions, so many of them rely on a caregiver or family member who has learned to understand their unique speech patterns to interpret for others. This forces people with dysarthria to choose between the ability to communicate effectively and their independence.
Voiceitt is a powerful customizable speech recognition app that learns to understand a user’s unique dysarthric speech and interpret it into typical speech instantly, either as audio or text. Using Voiceitt, people with dysarthric speech can independently communicate with friends, family, and strangers in real time. But we don’t only use speech for face-to-face interactions. We rely on the speech recognition algorithm in our virtual assistants to control the lights or the television, play music, or to set the temperature in the house. These tools would give people with dysarthric speech additional independence - if their speech could be interpreted correctly. Voiceitt has answered the call by integrating Voiceitt with smart homes, Assistive and Augmentative Communication devices, and smart speakers.
Voiceitt’s solution exponentially increases the accessibility of technology for people with disabilities. The company has attracted a lot of attention from startup accelerators, corporations, venture capitalists, and government agencies alike. They have been awarded grants from the EU as part of Horizon 2020, EzerTech from the Israel Innovation Authority, Amazon’s Alexa Fund, and Microsoft’s AI for Good, just to name a few. Which is why we’re honoured and excited to share that we are running a clinical pilot with VoiceItt at ALYN’s Independent Living Neighbourhood. Voiceitt’s solution is being integrated into the Neighbourhood’s smart home system to make it accessible for the residents and allow them to do even more on their own.
If making technology more accessible weren’t enough, Voiceitt’s next step is to investigate the long-term benefits of the product. Voiceitt users gain the ability to independently control their surroundings with their voice, which could motivate people with dysarthric speech to work on improving the clarity of their speech more than without it. Voiceitt and ALYNnovation are currently in search of relevant NGOs that would be interested in funding a clinical study to test this paradigm. If you have any connections that might be helpful, please reach out to us!