Applications of Low-cost Voice Record/playback Technology in the Development of Sophisticated Aac Aids: a Case Study

Voice-output augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) aids play a leading role in the integration of people with speech impairments, but their cost is still a major obstacle preventing many potential users to benefit from this technology. This paper presents a prototype voice-output AAC aid based on general-purpose voice record/playback technology, where one of the major objectives to achieve consisted of retaining the performance of common commercial systems, while minimising the cost. Three main user interface access methods were implemented and are also described.