Artificial intelligence has arrived to help people in their daily lives. It is estimated that in Spain more than 400,000 individuals have various speech disorders, such as stuttering, dysphemia, dysprosody, and dysarthria, resulting from neurological causes such as the after-effects of a stroke or conditions such as Parkinson's disease, among others.
Their difficulties in expressing themselves and speaking make their lives and prospects very complicated, which is why they created the Impulse app: a free app based on Artificial Intelligence that provides rhythmic support to improve the user's conversation, with the aim of increasing the fluency of speech in affected individuals.
A team of specialists led by Gonçalo Leal, Clinical Director and speech therapist at SpeechCare & Tartamudez Center, participated in its development, along with speech therapists from four continents.
Farah Al Qaissieh, founder of Stutter UAE and TedX speaker, also contributed her perspective, being herself a person with communication difficulties.
The app is based on rhythm therapy, a speech therapy technique that stimulates rhythm, a universal language. Using a haptic metronome, a subconscious rhythm is created in the brain to improve linguistic fluency. In Impulse, the rhythm is reproduced through the vibrometer built into the user's Galaxy Watch or Android smartphone, with vibrations that can be customized according to their needs in terms of speed, intensity, and tempo.
Customization of Artificial Intelligence according to individual needs
The app's operation is supported by a built-in algorithm based on Apache Open NLP, an artificial intelligence library used in natural language processing, which links language or syllable segmentation to the watch's vibrations. In this way, the app can generate vibration patterns tailored to the individual needs of the user.
There is an app called SoundBoost that is multifaceted. The "Boost your voice" section offers direct help to the user by playing a customizable adjustment pattern according to the settings of the app installed when you start using it, activated with a simple touch on the device.
Impulse offers users the possibility to practice with personal texts, either by entering them directly in the Boost your speech section or by uploading a personal file in this section. This area uses Natural Language Processing Artificial Intelligence that analyzes, breaks down, and interprets the document to generate a vibration pattern adapted to the individual interests of the user and based on the content of the text.
Among the main benefits of the app are the user's ability to practice independently and the option to share results with their speech therapist.
This ensures not only progress during sessions with the specialist, but also individual advancement for those who do not have regular access to a specialized clinic.
