Deriving User Profiles for Augmentative Communication

User profiling provides personalized and relevant content for users of information technology. Describing and representing an individual’s capabilities and interests can enhance assistive technology for users with severe disabilities, such as paralysis and the inability to speak. These users are particularly challenged when attempting to interface with technology because of their limited means for providing input. This paper describes the extent to which user profiling can be helpful for encapsulating the preferences of such disabled users. It also presents a methodology for capturing and representing user profile information in augmentative and assistive communication devices. User profiles are developed for both disabled users and their conversational partners. These profiles will ultimately be used to help improve the richness of conversation for severely disabled users by enhancing conversational prediction.