CUSTOMIZABLE AAC SYSTEM USING CONTEXT INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION: An adaptive and augmentative communication (AAC)system will be developed using standard PC compatible computer components. Using a standard computer rather than specialized hardware will allow the system to be produced less expensively and interfaced with a wide range of peripherals and standard expansion cards for applications such as environmental control. High quality voice output will be available using multimedia capabilities for synthesized and recorded speech. All of the utility of a personal computer (such as word processing, information management, and Internet access) will be available to users of the AAC system. The interface will be highly customizable to allow the system to be configured for individual users. Rate of communication will be enhanced using context information to predict words and phrases based as text is entered. In addition to context, language structure, and recency and frequency of word usage will also be used to improve predictive capability and increase the rate of text entry. $ = TOTAL AWARD AMTS & NOT LIMITED TO PORTION OF PROJECT RELATED TO SUBJECT OF SEARCH SUBPROJECT $ = TOTAL AWARD AMOUNT DIVIDED BY NUMBER OF SUBPROJECTS SOURCE: CRISP FORMAT F FY 97 LAST UPDATE 04-07-98 1QUERY 1536 ID SEARCH 06/01/98 PAGE 455 --PROJECT NUMBER......2 R44 MH52010-02A1 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 MANUCCIA, THOMAS J IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..MHSB SCHAFER CORPORATION AWARD AMOUNT......... $276,121 1901 NO. FT. MYER DR SUITE 800 ARLINGTON, VA 2209-1681 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: SCHAFER CORPORAGIONT TITLE INITIATED EVENT MODELS OF STOCHASTIC POINT PROCESSES ABSTRACT: This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop several software products dealing with the analysis of stochastic point processes for use in basic electrophysiology and behavioral neuroscience, as well as in fields dealing with higher aspects of human behavior such as mental health and alcoholism treatment relapse issues. Although not specifically targeted, because of the ubiquity of the subject matter, we anticipate considerable usage by researchers in Epidemiology and other medical fields, and even in diverse fields such as electrical engineering, forensics and operations research. The software will focus on the analysis of single and paired event data, i.e., single or multiple lists of the times that events of a particular type occur. The algorithms selected for inclusion in the program will include some of the better- known existing algorithms for point processes, as well as selected, recently developed algorithms in this area. The software will be for the PC platform and distributed in the form of a stand-alone windows application, as well as DLL's and scripts to allow inclusion of the functionality in existing software products.