Elizabeth Roller, Associate Professor of Special Education, works with clinical research preschool students at the Institute for Augmented and Alternative Communication.
Two university professors use artificial intelligence to improve communication tools for people with language limitations.
Elisabeth Rolla and Christine Holyfield, faculty members of the School of Education and Health Professionals, established a multidisciplinary laboratory in 2021. Lora is an associate professor of special education and a board-certified behavior analyst. Holyfield is an Associate Professor of Communication Science and Disability and is a speech pathologist.
The Extended Alternative Communication Lab combines these disciplines to facilitate communication for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome.
Supplemental and alternative communication devices allow people with language restrictions to communicate by selecting pictures with words on the tablet. In a clinical research kindergarten, Holyfield and Lola teach children on the autism spectrum how to use tablets by playing with different objects and integrating tablets and alternative voices into play. . Clinic students were able to make choices and participate in circle time activities using prototypes of AI-enabled devices.
“The current system is cumbersome and hard to personalize,” Lora said. “By using AI technology, we hope to make the system faster and easier to customize to user needs.”
Holyfield added that AI could improve communication by analyzing contextual information to speed up the word selection process, allowing individuals using AAC devices to engage in conversations at a faster pace. .
“AI is constantly improving mainstream technology that we use every day,” said Holyfield. “With some deliberate work, AI can also improve AAC technology used by people with language limitations, but only in ways that are based on people’s needs, interests, and priorities. We need research to make sure it does.” These are people who use AAC to communicate every day. “
Lora said the lab has been successful so far, despite initial challenges due to COVID-19 restrictions. They said that in January he received a Track H Convergence Accelerator grant (award number 2236352) from the National Science Foundation, worth $749,960. Half of the funds will be donated to a team of computer scientists at Temple University to develop his new AAC technology using AI. The research team plans to collect data on how users react to different prototypes in order to optimize alternative communication.
“People with complex communication needs have limited participation in life, such as education, work and social activities,” Lola explained. “AAC helps people participate in all aspects of life. AAC can improve an individual’s interactions with family, friends, and other communications her partner in educational and social contexts.” .”
