.jpg?width=1200&height=630&fit=crop&enable=upscale&auto=webp)
This digital book and machine learning help people with motor neurone disease find their voices again
By allowing more people to experience these things without barriers, games and technology are gradually becoming more accessible and more inclusive. 2021, in particular, is a big step forward for game marketing accessibility, and this year we’ve even seen a dedicated video game accessibility award. However, the seemingly basic functionality that many fans crave is still not implemented in a large number of games. Still, it’s always refreshing to see more games add alternate color modes, large text, voice menus, and more, and a variety of new physical controllers are starting to become available.
Technology is at its best when it comes to uplifting people and balancing the playing field, and this AI-enhanced book by Intel, Dell, Rolls-Royce, and the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MND Association) is a great example of that. This bookby #1 New York Times bestselling author Jill Twiss, titled i will always be me, and is designed to be read aloud in order to collect the reader’s voice and create a digital version. This enables those who are struggling to speak to retain their voice for later use, retaining a part of their identity. It specifically targets people who may be incapacitated, giving them the opportunity to save this unique part of themselves.
Once the speech is recorded, machine-learning algorithms can process it into digital speech, which can then be added to assistive speech devices, allowing people to use these machines to speak with something closer to their own voice. Recording sound with the I Will Always Be Me digital book is free, and you can record sound with any device you already own.However, turning that recording into a usable £200 for digital voice. Donations from Dell and Intel will be used to help the MND Foundation cover these costs as much as possible.
You can Hear the stories digital voices are reading Banked and with textured illustrations by Nicholas Stevenson. It is intended to be a story that helps patients explain their condition to loved ones and provides readers with personal affirmation. Listening to the recording, you can hear the different tones and accents of the voices used, showing how the technology preserves that part of someone.
I’ve always loved multiplayer games that provide context-sensitive voice lines without anyone talking. Things like the ping system in Apex Legends are especially useful, but playing online games with friends is sometimes better with some voice chat. That friend with the mic was busy and couldn’t really join in like everyone else and did miss out on some of the experience, although it certainly paled in comparison to losing your voice in real life. The technology appears to give people the opportunity to re-engage in conversations with a voice that is familiar and unique to them, no matter the situation. I hope we can see more of this.