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. 2023 Jun 6:14:1176683.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1176683. eCollection 2023.

Talkitt: toward a new instrument based on artificial intelligence for augmentative and alternative communication in children with down syndrome

Floriana Costanzo  1 , Elisa Fucà  1 , Cristina Caciolo  1 , Deborah Ruà  1 , Sara Smolley  2 , Danny Weissberg  2 , Stefano Vicari  1   3
Affiliations

Talkitt: toward a new instrument based on artificial intelligence for augmentative and alternative communication in children with down syndrome

Floriana Costanzo et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) often exhibit a severe speech impairment, with important consequences on language intelligibility. For these cases, the use of Augmentative Alternative Communication instruments, that increase an individual's communication abilities, becomes crucial. Talkitt is a mobile application created by Voiceitt Company, exploiting speech recognition technology and artificial intelligence models to translate in real-time unintelligible sounds into clear words, allowing individuals with language production impairment to verbally communicate in real-time.

Methods: The study evaluated the usability and satisfaction related to the Talkitt application use, as well as effects on adapted behavior and communication, of participants with DS. A final number of 23 individuals with DS, aged 5.54 to 28.9 years, participated in this study and completed 6 months of training. The application was trained to consistently recognize at least 20 different unintelligible words (e.g., nouns and/or short phrases)/person.

Results: Results revealed good usability and high levels of satisfaction related to the application use. Moreover, we registered improvement in linguistic abilities, particularly naming.

Discussion: These results paves the road for a potential role of Talkitt application as a supportive and rehabilitative tool for DS.

Keywords: digital application; language; machine learning; speech; trisomy 21.

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Conflict of interest statement

DW and SS have a commercial and financial interest in the Talkitt application, since they are, respectively, CoFounder and CEO and Director of Business Development of Voiceitt. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Illustration of how the Talkitt algorithm identifies the patterns of sound unique to the unintelligible speech user and use frame matching to map those consistencies to standard speech and the recorded sounds, thus successfully translating unintelligible speech. This figure is reproduced with permission from the Voicett company.
Figure 2
Figure 2
User interface design. The application is intuitive, requiring minimum or null support for usage. This figure is reproduced with permission from the Voicett company.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Parents report satisfaction with Talkitt use.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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