A video game prototype for speech rehabilitation

Speech rehabilitation software is usually aimed at people with hearing impairment that implies the need to exercise some speech abilities. Such abilities depend on the language and the context of the disability. In the case of children with hearing loss diagnosed at an early age (before 2 years), and who have been treated correctly and in an opportune manner (with a cochlear implant, for example), the abilities that need to be developed vary from the very basic (elementary productions, such as single sounds, or vowels), to more complex, such as spontaneous productions of meaningful words and phrases. Such rehabilitation therapy is accomplished with the help of a therapist, but software that allows the autonomous exercising of these abilities would help children with difficulties in affording such sessions. We introduce a video game prototype for speech rehabilitation of children with an early diagnosed hearing disability and who are using some kind of aid, such as a cochlear implant. The application relies on the auditory-verbal therapy theory and educational objectives such as the accurate assessment and reinforcement of voice production. It also relies on verbal interaction with the children through the intensive use of speech recognition technology and on visual feedback. An initial prototype was implemented which offers challenges in the field of voice interaction such as the latency of the speech recognition module, and feedback consistent with the recognition rates it provides.