SpeechOmeter

Google glass application that provides individuals with soft and slurred speech visual biofeedback cues as to their own vocal characteristics to improve speech clarity.

Lab Members: Mansoor Pervaiz, Rupal Patel

Individuals with neuromotor speech disorders due to Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, and Cerebral Palsy have soft and slurred speech with reduces speech intelligibility. SpeechOmeter, a novel heads-up interface, motivates these individuals to speak slowly and clearly. It provides visual cues for vocal loudness relative to the ambient noise level for speech monitoring and improved treatment adherence. The user’s vocal loudness is measured and shown on a head-up display in a relatively unobtrusive manner and in real-time to encourage users to speak louder than the ambient noise level. The interface provides users with frequent feedback about their vocal loudness and to calibrate their speaking volume according to the ambient environment rather than a static level that may be too fatiguing. The system also maintains usage and performance history and shares it with the user and clinician. The clinician can use this information to customize an individual’s treatment plan.