Can you tell us a little about InnerVoice and the impact it has had on your users?

InnerVoice is a communication app that teaches language in a different way, by creating an individualized multi-sensory learning experience. InnerVoice shows you that pictures, symbols, writing, and speech are all ways that we can send and receive language-based messages — all the while, stimulating your interest, increasing your engagement, and capturing your attention with its amazing photo-animation and text-to-speech software.

Why are personalized messages important when it comes to facilitating communication for those on the autism spectrum?

When a message is personalized, it becomes concrete and important to the user. By adding an animated picture of the user, personalization comes in the form of Interactive video self-modeling — users can animate most images and make them speak: what the avatars say is only limited by your imagination. “One of the attributes of self-modeling is that positive results are seen almost immediately.” Tom Buggey, Ph.D. Seeing Is Believing

Personalization can also come in the form of text-to-speech voices, recordings, and the content of the messages and vocabulary sets within an AAC app.

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How can AAC technologists and vendors improve their communication applications through personalized messaging?

AAC technologists can increase the intonation, prosody and suprasegmentals of the voices that are used in text-to-speech. Currently, AAC apps can use one text-to-speech voice to convey all messages. Having the ability to convey subtle emotions, sarcasm, whispers and feelings would significantly increase communication. There is as much communicative content in how the message is delivered as in what the words say.

How can users get the most out of AAC applications that use personalized messaging? Is there a steep learning curve for users or have you found it to be relatively intuitive?

Yes, there is definitely a learning curve and a high percentage of AAC apps get abandoned due to the complexity of customizing and using the app. Through personal experience and conducting surveys, I have found that ease of use is imperative to the success of AAC user.

Are there any potential shortcomings associated with personalized messaging?

If you think about your own communication on a daily basis, you will see how every interaction is customized to your audience and emotional state at the time.

An AAC user should be able to adjust their message, on the spot, just as any speaker/communicator would to reflect a “just right message” to their audience.

What roll does text-to-speech have when it comes to crafting personalized messages? How can text-to-speech be improved?

The ability to interpret and convey emotions are paramount for every-day functioning. In fact, as the use of text messages, emails, blogs, and other social media are entwined into social, academic, and commercial communication a large part of the message, the emotional content, is lost.

Text-to-speech that can deliver emotional content paired with animated facial expression will maximize users ability to comprehensively communicate with family and friends.

What are some common misconceptions associated with AAC technology in general?

If a person uses AAC to communicate they will never learn to talk — False, using AAC actually improves spoken language.

Where do you believe the future of AAC technology is headed in the next 5–10 years?

Future AAC will be highly personalized, less cumbersome to use, more fluent and will become more universal. For example, when messaging a friend on a tablet or phone the user will not have to use “special” technology, but can use the same apps and features that everyone uses. You can see this begin to happen with Apple products that have built-in accessibility features. This is called universal design — the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.

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