Enhanced Communication Support for Aphasia Using Gesture Recognition: The Bedroom Scenario

Citizens with speech and language disorders, such as Aphasia, often experience difficulties in expressing their needs. Assistive technologies for these disorders rely mostly on graphical interfaces activated by touch or gaze, which do not effectively cover all communication contexts throughout the day and may raise privacy concerns. In the scope of the AAL APH-ALARM project, our main aim is to extend communication support for users with speech and language difficulties (mainly aphasics) in the bedroom environment. We propose a system for supporting communication based on gesture recognition using non-invasive compact sensors worn by the user or deployed in the environment (e.g., bed). A first prototype was implemented using wrist-worn sensors and machine learning to recognize a small set of gestures. Initial results suggest that gesture recognition to enhance communication for people with speech and language impairments is viable, even when in bed.