A SCRIPT BASED SPEECH AID FOR NON-SPEAKING PEOPLE
GS HARPER, R DYE, N. Alm, J.L. Arnott, IR MURRAY · 2024
Physically disabled non-speaking people often use speech aids to communicate However, the speed with which a disabled person can operate a speech output device is otten very slow and this can hinder satisfactory communication performance.This paper describes a software speech aid called ScripTalker which has been developed to help non-speaking people interact more quickly and effectivety in everyday situations by using a model of conversation and knowledge of typical interaction patterns.These are embodied in scripts, which hold a structured series of reusable phrases.The phrases are retrieved through a scenebased pictorial interface depicting the current conversational situation Retrieval is performed by selecting objects within the scene and output via a speech synthesiser.A prompting facility at each stage at the conversation can be used to assist identi cation of the correct phrase and the system also allows novel phrases to be produced outwith the scripts (and pre-stored if necessary).Preliminary trials have demonstrated that the system hasthe potential to improve the conversation performance of the user, and a commercial version of the system will soon be available. THE CHALLENGES OF A SPEECH DISABILITYPeople with a speech disability chen'have accompanying physical disabilities.Physical capabilities can vary widely.and many have limited muscle control Some can only interact with the world by the operation of a switch.In order to communicate, speech-disabled people usually rely on some form of aid to communicate with others.These communication aids may be textor symbol-based and approximately 60% of non-speaking people have some literacy problem.The communication speed of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) aid users is typically very slow.usually in the range of 2 to 10 words per minute compared to an average 180 words for a non-impaired speaker [1}.Conversation can therefore be dif cult and can result in social isolation.The system described in this paper incorporates a model of conversation patterns within an AAC system to increase the ease and speed of communication by users and to assist interaction in everyday situations.