Cloud Augmentative and Alternative Communication for People with Complex Communication Needs

Human communication is fundamental to all aspects of life. Nowadays, communication technologies and communication networks together offer a wide range of options to sustain human social interactions within the modern society. Unfortunately, people with complex communication needs are unable to communicate using verbal means such as speech and written texts; and have been excluded from active and convenient participation in the society. Over the past decades, a number of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems have been developed to provide various methods to enable people with communication impairments to express their beliefs and needs by means other than natural speech. The advent of mobile technologies further brought about a growing number of unconnected, offline mobile AAC apps. The current work assembles multidisciplinary research expertise in Information Engineering, Cognitive Psychology, and Learning Sciences; as well as frontier experiences and practical knowledge in humanitarian technologies and specific learning disability; and proposes the novel cloud AAC to echo the call from the disability community for digital inclusion and their daily communication needs. The design has been validated by a preliminary system implementation; and has been adopted in classroom teaching and learning for children with autism spectrum disorders.