Techniques for improving computer-assisted communication for physically impaired non-vocal people through using prestored extended texts

The problems faced by people whose physical impairments include the inability to communicate through speech are demonstrated by the fact that, even with current technology, speech rates achievable using speech output devices typically vary between 2-10 words per minute. We have been investigating ways in which the communication system itself could take on many of the cognitive and manipulative tasks required to locate and produce suitable prestored texts for the user. The storage and retrieval methods we have investigated include a text database with items indexed semantically and pragmatically, logging conversational paths for reuse, hypertext, and fuzzy information retrieval. The ultimate goal of this work is a communication system which will allow a severely impaired nonvocal person to make a significantly better conversational impact than is possible with present systems