iPhone: New App to Help Reduce Stuttering

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In the very near future, the iPhone may be able those who stutter.

Researchers at the Hollins Communications Research Institute have created an iPhone app that helps treat speech impediment disorders.

Stuttering treatment usually entails a feedback loop to help retrain the brain. This new app will listen to your voice in the field and offer immediate feedback, a process that used depended on a desktop PC and special software used in an office.

Well no more. Now, stutterers can perform exercises and tests while they’re going about their day, be it shopping, chatting, or dining at a restaurant.

The software also records the samples taken in the field for later analysis at the research facility.

The iPhone device was programmed at HCRI with a sophisticated voice monitoring system that evaluates and scores speech behaviors taught during stuttering therapy. When clients use the device during training in outside situations, such as in a shopping mall, restaurant or business setting, fluency measurements for each utterance are displayed on the iPhone screen. Having this data immediately available to stuttering therapy program participants makes speech practice more effective and helps improve the speed with which fluency results are achieved.

In addition, the iPhone records every speech sample in an onboard file for later transmission to HCRI. This information enables the institute’s therapists to provide more detailed and precise training to clients, as they learn to apply new speech capabilities in everyday situations.

This application will be used at the HCRI. It is currently in the "research" stage. I wouldn't expect to see it in the App Store any time soon.