Award Data

This project creates an easy to use and unobtrusive hearing aid accessory that solves a very common problem for hearing aid users: understanding speech in noisy environments. A common problem amongst hearing aid users is trouble understanding speech while listening to a conversation in environments with competing speech babble noise and other noises such as restaurant conversations, social gatheri ...

This project develops FluentBuddy, a prototype application for iOS and Android platforms to assist in the treatment of speech and communication disorders with a focus on the physiological and anatomical system (i.e. voice disorders, speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, and other disabilities in children and adults). The project has three goals: (1) enhancing sensory and motor function t ...

This project develops an ambulatory remote operated Tactile Awareness Prompting (TAP) system to be used within educational and clinical environments for students who have social skills deficits. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit deficits related to social initiations and conversational skills. Children with such disabilities often do not have the necessary social skills to m ...

This project develops a Virtual Reality Audio Simulator to enable the development of orientation and navigation skills for individuals who are blind. The simulator allows young adults undergoing orientation and mobility training to explore a virtual model of a realistic 3-D environment via auditory feedback. To create a fully immersive and interactive environment, the user wears headphones with he ...

This project develops a novel augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) device enabling individuals with severe motor disorders to communicate with a computer via signals emanating directly from their brain. The AAC prototype includes an email client that enables an individual to compose and send email without the use of residual motor control, using only a low-cost headset detecting brain ...

This product develops and evaluates a proof-of-concept, mobile speech-to-sign translator that integrates continuous speech recognition software with natural language processing and Vcom3D’s Signing Avatar animated American Sign Language technology. This speech-to-sign the application is designed to run on iPhone/iPod or Android smartphones, providing Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) learners the ...

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (Deaf/hh) persons rely heavily on facial movements for communication, whether in American Sign Language (ASL), Signed English (SE), or Spoken English. In ASL, signers add “mouth morphemes”, similar to speech movements, to signs to distinguish concepts that use the same manual sign. Hard-ofhearing persons who use spoken communication, read mouth shapes to distinguish si ...