DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇱 Israel /Technology

Israeli startup develops AI communication tool for people with unclear speech

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Israeli startup BarVox is developing an AI-based alternative to traditional augmentative and alternative communication devices for people who are semiverbal or have unclear speech.
  • The app learns users’ individual sounds and translates them into personalized speech through a smartphone, mobile phone or tablet.
  • BarVox is launching 30 new pilot projects and researching the app’s effects on users’ social-emotional well-being with the University of Haifa.

BarVox wants to solve a problem that traditional communication devices often leave unresolved: people who can speak, but whose words strangers cannot understand. The Israeli startup is developing an app that translates their vocal sounds into personalized, intelligible speech.

Existing augmentative and alternative communication systems often rely on eye tracking or typing. Those tools can work well for people who are fully nonverbal, but they can fall short for semiverbal users and people with verbal impairments, including some individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

struggles with pronunciation

— Dror LevyLevy described his son Bar’s difficulty making his speech clear to people outside the family.

The idea grew from founder and CEO Dror Levy’s experience with his 27-year-old son, Bar, who has autism and is semiverbal. Bar functions independently, Levy said, but struggles with pronunciation and cannot be understood clearly by people beyond family and friends. That left caregivers and children frustrated when they tried to communicate outside the home.

isn’t clear beyond family and friends

— Dror LevyLevy explained why existing communication tools do not fully meet his son’s needs.

Levy, who has three decades of experience in research and development, marketing, communications and cyber technology, decided to create a faster and simpler alternative. “We wanted something that is much more simple,” he said. Current devices require users to navigate categories for wishes and emotions, he said, and often use a voice that is not their own.

BarVox can run on a smartphone, mobile phone or tablet. Users and their families help shape the system, rather than relying on a fixed program. When the app hears an unfamiliar sound, it places it in a queue for inclusion in the user’s personal dictionary. The company says it preserves the intended expression and dignity of the speaker without correcting the person’s verbal mistakes. BarVox emerged from a Hackatism hackathon, where it placed second among 42 startups judged by 30 people. It has since begun 30 new pilots and research with the University of Haifa.

We wanted something that is much more simple

— Dror LevyLevy described BarVox’s goal of creating a less complicated communication system.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog