ViVA / Potential Advantages for Aphasiacs

As the average age of humans increases, a person will face the increased likelihood of developing at least one chronic condition that may have an impact on his/her cognitive abilities (Czaja, Gregor, & Hanson, 2009). Aging can have physical, cognitive, and even social consequences that can prevent a person from performing normal computer activities(Shneiderman & Plaisant, 2009). One particular health disability condition is known as aphasia. This medical condition can affect the language areas of the brain and can be caused by a stroke (Chris, Jesse, Alex, Gail, & Clayton, 2008), a physical trauma to the brain that can result from an accident, fall, etc. (Leveille, Fried, McMullen, & Guralnik, 2004), or as a result of an abnormal growth of cells within the brain(Chris, et al., 2008). A person affected by aphasia will display varying degrees of disabilities that can affect their vision, ability to write, ability to speak, the ability to logically process received audio messages, and the ability logically process messages to send appropriate responses (audio) (Karyn & Rhian, 2004). The aphasiac may, for example, be able to read a dinner menu but may be unable to understand what was read, or may understand the menu yet may be unable to articulate their choice for dinner. Those patients that have been diagnosed with aphasia may also have additional disabilities (pre-existing or not) that further complications patient ability to return to a normal and independent lifestyle.
A number of adaptive technologies have been created to assist those aphasiacs whose primary disability relates to their inability to speak (Access, 2004). A new technology is being researched by a group from Princeton University. The Visual Vocabulary for Aphasia (ViVA) is considered for its potential ability to provide the aphasiac with the ability to communicate more effectively. These researchers contend that the new HCI technology would provide an intuitive adaptable and adaptive tool would help the aphasiac. This technology would not be characterized according to the typical lexicon structure but would instead provide user with a customizable and intuitive structure. ViVA is in its early stages of research and has yet to provide any tangible evidence of proclaimed value.
The proposed computer technology would provide the user with the ability to select an image from its database (i.e. Doctor) as primary subject matter. Once selected the technology would display a digest of related graphic image of potential candidate link words that would provide further clarification of the complete though that needs to be transmitted. A series of images would be displayed, each of which is weighted and associated with the primary image and provides additional potential candidate links. The appropriate image from the provided set of images (e.g. medication, call, appointment, hospital, etc.) can then be selected. Through this series of iterative processes the user would then be able to communicate the complete thought. WordNet is expected to be integrated into this tool that would provide historical insights and estimate the appropriate weighted definition. See http://wordnet.princeton.edu for further details of how associative links (e.g. hypernym, antonym, entailment, etc.) as made.
The complete set of ViVA technology set would consist of two major software components. The adaptable component would allow the end user, caregiver, or speech language pathologist to customize appropriate subjects and potential links that are most appropriate. The second adaptive component would provide a form of artificial intelligence that would learn from the continued use of the tool. The software would then provide a weighted value of the associated link words thereby strengthening, or loosening, the link connection.
While this work is still in its infancy stage, it does provide some intriguing benefits to the aphasia sufferer. This work lends itself to other research areas such as tools for other communications disabilities as well as an aid to foreign language learners.


Bibliography Reference

Access, A. f. T. (2004). Computer resources for people with disabilities : a guide to assistive technologies, tools and resources for people of all ages (4th ed.). Alameda, Calif.: Hunter House.
Chris, B., Jesse, H., Alex, M., Gail, R., & Clayton, L. (2008). Naming practice on an open platform for people with aphasia. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 10th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility.
Czaja, S. J., Gregor, P., & Hanson, V. L. (2009). Introduction to the Special Issue on Aging and Information Technology. ACM Trans. Access. Comput., 2(1), 1-4.
Karyn, M., & Rhian, D. (2004). The Aphasia project: designing technology for and with individuals who have aphasia. SIGACCESS Access. Comput.(80), 11-17.
Leveille, S. G., Fried, L. P., McMullen, W., & Guralnik, J. M. (2004). Advancing the Taxonomy of Disability in Older Adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 59(1), M86-93.
Shneiderman, B., & Plaisant, C. (2009). Designing the user interface (5th ed.). Boston: Addison-Wesley.