Speaker: Annalu Waller, Dundee University
Annalu Waller PhD OBE is Professor of Human Communication Technologies and the Academic Lead for Computing at Dundee University, Scotland. She directs the Dundee Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Research Group and has worked in the field of AAC since 1985, designing communication systems for and with nonspeaking individuals. Her primary research areas are human centred computing, natural language processing, personal narrative and assistive technology. In particular, she focuses on empowering end users, including disabled adults and children, by involving them in the design and use of technology. She is programme lead for a new MSc in Educational Assistive Technology and co-directs an MSc in AAC with Psychology. Professor Waller was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List in 2016 for services to people with Complex Communication Needs and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Talk: Supporting extended conversation for people using Augmentative and alternative communication
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) attempts to augment natural speech, or to provide alternative ways to communicate for people with limited or no functional speech. Technology provides access to voice output and plays an important role in AAC. At the simplest level, people with complex communication needs (CCN) can cause a prestored message to be spoken by activating a single switch. At the most sophisticated level, literate users can generate novel text.
Although some individuals with CCN become effective communicators, most do not – they tend to be passive communicators, responding mainly to questions or prompts at a one- or two-word level. Conversational skills such as initiation, elaboration and storytelling are seldom observed. Instead of placing all the processing load on the user, AAC devices can be designed to support the cognitive and language needs of individuals with CCN, taking into account the need to scaffold communication as children develop into adulthood.
A range of research projects, including systems to support personal narrative and language play, will be used to illustrate the application of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Natural Language Generation (NLG) in the design and implementation of digital AAC.
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