Perspectives on Speech and Language Interaction for Daily Assistive Technology: Introduction to Part 1 of the Special Issue

摘要

We are pleased to present this special issue on speech and language interaction for daily assistive technology. Speech and natural language are important methods in interacting with technology and with others, especially for individuals with communication disorders. In some cases, software can automatically improve the intelligibility of speech signals to help individuals with pathological speech communicate. In others, specialized speech recognition devices tuned to the voices of, for example, people with cerebral palsy or Parkinson's disease can increase access to computers for which conventional keyboards, mice, or touchscreens may be laborious or impossible to use. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in software tools that can support the work of speech professionals and therapists by providing automatic assessment of a person's speech.