Speech Professionals

Sitris is disability aid designed for people of all ages with a variety of speech difficulties. The phone is a particularly challenging environment for those with speech impairments, especially when trying to speak to a stranger where patience is at a minimum. Sitris can be used as a voice substitute for people with no vocal abilities or to augment a users natural ability on the phone. It provides low cost access to high quality text to speech voices using the web.

The ideal candidate has the cognitive and physical skills to use the web but has limited or no vocal range. For clients who have lost their voice later in life the removal of the telephone as a standard, personal communications channel reduces independence and social access. It places additional responsibilities on care givers to relay telephone calls and handle intimate financial or medical conversations significantly reducing the level of privacy enjoyed by the sufferer.

Conditions where Sitris can Assist

• Cerebral Palsy (CP)
• Lou Gehrig´s Disease (ASL)
• Laryngectomee
• Stroke
• Brain Trauma
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Spasmodic Dysphonia
• Motor Neuron Disease (MND)
• Severe Stuttering

In situations where the patient may have lost their voice suddenly such as where a tracheotomy is required the portability of Sitris as a web based service would allow patients in hospital to speak with medical staff and loved ones without the need to procure specialized software or hardware. The audio is streamed to the browser allowing the patient to speak locally or to make telephone calls.

Sitris gives back that independence, privacy and communications. It can also be an enabler for people to secure employment, allowing them to communicate freely and effectively in the course of doing a job.

Motor Difficulties

In cases where the speech impairment is associated with broader motor issues use of the standard PC keyboard or mouse may be a challenge for the Sitris user. Devices such as tracker balls and large key, keyboards will help navigate the Sitris interface, however tests have shown that tabbing or scanning tools are generally too slow to sustain a fluid conversation over the telephone.

Cognitive Load

While Sitris is designed for simplicity the very nature of the PC/Web environment combined with the telephony component represents a significant cognitive load. Sitris clients would typically have high cognitive skills.

AAC Software Users

The trend toward tablet PC hardware solutions to support standard AAC software such as Grid 1 or V/VMax will allow users to access the web directly from their device, most of the software running on these devices facilitate entering text into on-line web forms and applications. The AAC software user who has this ability can input text into the Sitris user interface using qwerty, scanning or story board formats. Once it is in standard text Sitris will speak it instantly into the phone call.