The new experimental app on Android aims to make communication easier for people with speech and motor impairments, Google announced today. The Look to Speak app lets users choose the phrases they want on their phone screen with their eyes. It is available for everyone and is compatible with Android 9.0 and higher, including Android One.
Richard Cave, a very expert speech and language therapist at Google, for people with speech and motor impairments, especially those who are unprofessional and deal with the need for communication assistance. “It’s more than work for me, it’s passion,” Cave said in a blog post announcing the app. “Every day, I try to help people find easier and more accessible ways to express their daily needs, opinions, feelings and identities.”
The app is meant to work on a mobile device and support more sophisticated assistive technologies. After positioning the phone slightly below eye level, the user looks left or right to choose from a list of phrases, after which the device speaks aloud. Phrases can be personalized to allow users to share their authentic voices, cave notes. According to Google, all the data in the Look to Speak app is private and never leaves the phone.
One drawback: the app’s setup auxiliary menu, which is where phrases can be edited and gaze settings adjusted nicely, is not visually accessible and requires manual tapping on the phone’s screen.
Lo To Speak is one of Google’s beginnings with One, the discovery of many projects on its experiments with the Google platform. Projects all start working with one person to try to create something for the larger community. Other projects include Infinite Bed Guy, the so-called Infinite Music Video for Billy Elish song, and Teachable Machine, a web tool that allows users to create machine learning models without any coding.
Cave says Look to Speak has reached out to people who may benefit from the app and has been helpful in environments where other ibility accessibility devices may not be useful, such as transitions, showers, emergency situations or outdoor locations. “Now the conversation can take place more easily where there was silence before, and I’m excited to hear some of them,” he said.
