YouTube Video<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Learning from superheroes and puppies<\/strong><\/h2>\nLois Jean Brady and Matthew Guggemos, co-founders of Bay Area-based iTherapy<\/a> who are speech pathologists and autism specialists, are tackling the growing prevalence of autism-related speech challenges with InnerVoice<\/a>, an artificial intelligence-powered app whose customizable avatars stimulate social cues. The app animates avatars of superheroes, puppies, stuffed animals and people to help young children who have difficulties with language and expression pair words with meanings and practice conversation.<\/p>\niTherapy received<\/a> a Microsoft AI for Accessibility grant in 2018. The program<\/a> provides grants as well as technology and expertise to individuals, groups and companies passionate about creating tools that make the world more inclusive. iTherapy is using the grant to integrate the Azure AI platform<\/a> to enhance its generated speech, image recognition and facial animation.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/how-ai-is-helping-kids-bridge-language-gaps.jpg\")
A five-year-old student using Zyrobotics to learn to read at Ranch Santa Gertrudes Elementary. <\/em><\/p>\n\u201cI think for sure that the AI component was the missing link,\u201d says Guggemos of the app. \u201cHow do you use words, and what do words mean? What does a symbol represent? How do you use AI to develop problems that require language to solve?\u201d<\/p>\n
How a hippo helps teach speech <\/b><\/h2>\n
AI is also proving an exciting development in speech and language improvement for Zyrobotics<\/a>, an Atlanta-based educational technology company that was the first beneficiary<\/a> of the AI for Accessibility program in 2018. Zyrobotics is using Azure Machine Learning to help its ReadAble Storiez educational tool interpret when a student needs assistance.<\/p>\n\nYouTube Video<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
ReadAble Storiez uses an avatar of a hippo to help students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and other challenges such as stuttering, pauses and heavy accents.<\/p>\n
Ayanna Howard, the company\u2019s founder and professor in robotics, was first motivated to create ReadAble Storiez when watching a teacher use Zyrobotics\u2019 Counting Zoo app with a child. When the teacher turned to her and said, \u201cCan you have this app do more than just read with him? I think it\u2019s fantastic that it helps improve his math \u2013 could it also help him improve his reading?\u201d<\/p>\n
Howard also found teachers mentioning the challenges of dyslexia in the classroom. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, what happens if you have a reading disability?\u2019 I then learned that signs of dyslexia in children aren\u2019t picked up until much later, typically when schools start standardized testing. I realized we needed an intervention much earlier and that we could do that with Counting Zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learning models that don\u2019t take individualized challenges into account, or don\u2019t address the speech patterns of kids, \u201ctend to fail,\u201d Howard says. ReadAble Storiez employs a custom speech model and a sophisticated \u201ctutor\u201d to convert speech to text and measure accuracy, fluency and the child\u2019s reading improvement.<\/p>\n
\u2018It <\/b>blew my mind<\/b>!\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n
Howard is pleased with the program\u2019s early success. \u201cWhile they were reading a book, kids were correcting themselves,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a technologist, you say your stuff works, but I\u2019m sitting there with the kids and I\u2019m blown away, \u2018It really does work!\u2019 It\u2019s thrilling to see that what works in the lab actually works in the real world, in the child\u2019s environment. The [avatar] would provide feedback, and a child would be like, \u2018I didn\u2019t say a word right. Can I try again?\u2019 It blew my mind. That was the affirmation. Our solution was on track and on target.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady, who came up with the idea for InnerVoice after studying and writing a book on apps for people with autism, reflects on the impact it has made. She cites an example of working with a student who is non-verbal and used the app to communicate with an avatar of himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would take a picture of an apple, and an avatar would read it as \u2018apple,\u2019 and then he would write it down, \u2018apple.\u2019 Until then, I hadn\u2019t even thought of that strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/how-ai-is-helping-kids-bridge-language-gaps-1.jpg\")
A mother uses InnerVoice to work on communication skills with her young daughter.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\nBrady and Guggemos imagine the benefits of AI-assisted communication beyond their target audience. They are working with people with dementia, head injuries and strokes. \u201cMany communication apps just talk for you,\u201d Brady adds. \u201cOurs spans many aspects of communication for everybody \u2014 even English-language learners. Why wouldn\u2019t I try that? It provides a model. There\u2019s a coffee cup on the table, take a picture of it. How do you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Howard dreams of Zyrobotics helping to close the gap between mainstream learners and students with learning disabilities. To start, this fall Zyrobotics will introduce ReadAble Storiez to classrooms in the Los Nietos, California, school district, where learning disabilities track high. The company will also apply AI to its suite of STEM Storiez, a series of nine interactive and inclusive books that help children ages 3 to 7 engage with science, math, engineering and technology.<\/p>\n
The AI for Accessibility program has been instrumental in getting Zyrobotics off the ground with ReadAble Storiez. \u201cIf we hadn\u2019t gotten the grant, we\u2019d be in phase zero,\u201d Howard says. \u201cWe run on grants to ensure we provide access to learning technologies for all students. We need to be out there for kids that need us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grant gave Brady and Guggemos the technology to take InnerVoice to the next level. \u201cOur kids need this technology,\u201d Brady says. \u201cIt\u2019s not a luxury. We want to keep adding the best stuff. Microsoft really propelled us forward in that arena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top image: A young boy at the iTherapy clinic uses InnerVoice chat bot to describe his photo of a Teddy bear. <\/em><\/p>\nRelated: <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How did you learn to talk? Probably something like this: Your infant brain, a hotbed of neurological activity, picked up on your parents\u2019 speech tones and facial expressions. You started to mimic their sounds, interpret their emotions and identify relatives from strangers. And one day, about a year into life, you pointed and started saying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[555,135],"class_list":["post-93423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-ai-blog","tag-artificial-intelligence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
iTherapy received<\/a> a Microsoft AI for Accessibility grant in 2018. The program<\/a> provides grants as well as technology and expertise to individuals, groups and companies passionate about creating tools that make the world more inclusive. iTherapy is using the grant to integrate the Azure AI platform<\/a> to enhance its generated speech, image recognition and facial animation.<\/p>\n \u201cI think for sure that the AI component was the missing link,\u201d says Guggemos of the app. \u201cHow do you use words, and what do words mean? What does a symbol represent? How do you use AI to develop problems that require language to solve?\u201d<\/p>\n AI is also proving an exciting development in speech and language improvement for Zyrobotics<\/a>, an Atlanta-based educational technology company that was the first beneficiary<\/a> of the AI for Accessibility program in 2018. Zyrobotics is using Azure Machine Learning to help its ReadAble Storiez educational tool interpret when a student needs assistance.<\/p>\n YouTube Video<\/p>\n<\/div>\n ReadAble Storiez uses an avatar of a hippo to help students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and other challenges such as stuttering, pauses and heavy accents.<\/p>\n Ayanna Howard, the company\u2019s founder and professor in robotics, was first motivated to create ReadAble Storiez when watching a teacher use Zyrobotics\u2019 Counting Zoo app with a child. When the teacher turned to her and said, \u201cCan you have this app do more than just read with him? I think it\u2019s fantastic that it helps improve his math \u2013 could it also help him improve his reading?\u201d<\/p>\n Howard also found teachers mentioning the challenges of dyslexia in the classroom. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, what happens if you have a reading disability?\u2019 I then learned that signs of dyslexia in children aren\u2019t picked up until much later, typically when schools start standardized testing. I realized we needed an intervention much earlier and that we could do that with Counting Zoo.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning models that don\u2019t take individualized challenges into account, or don\u2019t address the speech patterns of kids, \u201ctend to fail,\u201d Howard says. ReadAble Storiez employs a custom speech model and a sophisticated \u201ctutor\u201d to convert speech to text and measure accuracy, fluency and the child\u2019s reading improvement.<\/p>\n Howard is pleased with the program\u2019s early success. \u201cWhile they were reading a book, kids were correcting themselves,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a technologist, you say your stuff works, but I\u2019m sitting there with the kids and I\u2019m blown away, \u2018It really does work!\u2019 It\u2019s thrilling to see that what works in the lab actually works in the real world, in the child\u2019s environment. The [avatar] would provide feedback, and a child would be like, \u2018I didn\u2019t say a word right. Can I try again?\u2019 It blew my mind. That was the affirmation. Our solution was on track and on target.\u201d<\/p>\n Brady, who came up with the idea for InnerVoice after studying and writing a book on apps for people with autism, reflects on the impact it has made. She cites an example of working with a student who is non-verbal and used the app to communicate with an avatar of himself.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would take a picture of an apple, and an avatar would read it as \u2018apple,\u2019 and then he would write it down, \u2018apple.\u2019 Until then, I hadn\u2019t even thought of that strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Brady and Guggemos imagine the benefits of AI-assisted communication beyond their target audience. They are working with people with dementia, head injuries and strokes. \u201cMany communication apps just talk for you,\u201d Brady adds. \u201cOurs spans many aspects of communication for everybody \u2014 even English-language learners. Why wouldn\u2019t I try that? It provides a model. There\u2019s a coffee cup on the table, take a picture of it. How do you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n Howard dreams of Zyrobotics helping to close the gap between mainstream learners and students with learning disabilities. To start, this fall Zyrobotics will introduce ReadAble Storiez to classrooms in the Los Nietos, California, school district, where learning disabilities track high. The company will also apply AI to its suite of STEM Storiez, a series of nine interactive and inclusive books that help children ages 3 to 7 engage with science, math, engineering and technology.<\/p>\n The AI for Accessibility program has been instrumental in getting Zyrobotics off the ground with ReadAble Storiez. \u201cIf we hadn\u2019t gotten the grant, we\u2019d be in phase zero,\u201d Howard says. \u201cWe run on grants to ensure we provide access to learning technologies for all students. We need to be out there for kids that need us.\u201d<\/p>\n The grant gave Brady and Guggemos the technology to take InnerVoice to the next level. \u201cOur kids need this technology,\u201d Brady says. \u201cIt\u2019s not a luxury. We want to keep adding the best stuff. Microsoft really propelled us forward in that arena.\u201d<\/p>\n Top image: A young boy at the iTherapy clinic uses InnerVoice chat bot to describe his photo of a Teddy bear. <\/em><\/p>\n Related: <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How did you learn to talk? Probably something like this: Your infant brain, a hotbed of neurological activity, picked up on your parents\u2019 speech tones and facial expressions. You started to mimic their sounds, interpret their emotions and identify relatives from strangers. And one day, about a year into life, you pointed and started saying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[555,135],"class_list":["post-93423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-news","tag-ai-blog","tag-artificial-intelligence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A five-year-old student using Zyrobotics to learn to read at Ranch Santa Gertrudes Elementary. <\/em><\/p>\nHow a hippo helps teach speech <\/b><\/h2>\n
\u2018It <\/b>blew my mind<\/b>!\u2019<\/b><\/h2>\n
A mother uses InnerVoice to work on communication skills with her young daughter.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n