Making telecommunications services accessible to people with severe communication disabilities

Since the advent of telephony in 1880s, a number of important telecommunications technologies have been invented and developed. However, people with severe communication disabilities have been left out from enjoying the electronic transmission of speech and voice due to their limitations in cognitive, social, and/or motor skills. This paper reports a cross-disciplinary endeavour in Hong Kong that aims at paving the very last mile of communication networks. A semantic image-based cloud augmentative and alternative communication system has been developed in an 18-month project. The system enables people with complex communication needs to conduct telephone conversations. The primary user group spans at least 1.3 percent of all population worldwide; including those with dementia, aphasia, developmental disorders, and those in acquired medical conditions, etc. who cannot rely on their natural speech for daily communication.