COMMUNICATION AID UTILIZING WORD-LEVEL DISAMBIGUATION

DESCRIPTION: The investigators propose to demonstrate the benefits of this technology for AAC by integrating it into a communication aid developed by the Prentke Romich Company, and by field-testing it with an appropriate sample population. Results of this feasibility study will be used in Phase II to develop a complete AAC system based on this technology. The reduced number of keys makes it possible to design a highly effective system that is smaller, lighter, and more cost- effective than today's systems, and which is also easier to learn for individuals with basic literacy. $ = 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 533 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 RR13192-01 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 DELIYSKI, DIMITAR IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG1 KAY ELEMETRICS CORP AWARD AMOUNT......... $98,783 2 BRIDGEWATER LANE LINCOLN PARK, NJ 07035 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: KAY ELEMETRICS CORPORATION TITLE QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF VIDEOKYMOGRAPHY NO ABSTRACT ON FILE $ = 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 534 --PROJECT NUMBER......1 R43 RR13220-01 INVESTIGATOR NAME/ADDRESS FY 97 MOULTON, BRYAN J IRG/INTRAMURAL UNIT..ZRG1 ENKIDU RESEARCH INC AWARD AMOUNT......... $98,652 12 SKYCREST DRIVE ROCHESTER, NY 14616 PERFORMING ORGANIZATION: ENKIDU RESEARCH TITLE ABBREVIATION EXPANSION FOR AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION ABSTRACT: DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the investigator's abstract) An abbreviation expansion scheme for augmented and alternative communication (AAC) devices is proposed. The method would allow unconstrained vocabulary access through abbreviations which are interpreted "on the fly" as well as through table lookup. In the proposed system, heuristics, statistical language models, automatic spell checking, and table lookup methods are blended to interpret user- generated abbreviations and autonomously expand them into words or phrases. The model allows users to develop their own abbreviation strategies as they generate text. An in-house AAC model called IMPACT will be used as the development bed for the proposed work. Research will be conducted to characterize abbreviation strategies of a population of test subjects. A model of natural rules will be developed and optimized, with statistical data serving to eliminate the ambiguity that results when multiple candidate words exist for a single abbreviation. Extensive laboratory experimentation will be used to refine the heuristic rules for abbreviation expansion and to measure the system performance. $ = 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