Designing a Context Aware AAC Solution

Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) software has the ability to improve the quality of life for individuals with a speech, language and communication need. However, the communication rate achievable with current devices is still significantly less than unimpaired speech. The embedded technologies available in mobile devices, present an opportunity to improve the ease and efficiency of communication through context aware computing. This paper explores the iterative design process of a context aware keyboard prototype and discusses the results of its evaluation, which suggest the prototype could have a marked improvement on the communication rate of AAC users.