Research Foundation News

May 5, 2016  

SPEAK MODalities partners with accessible technology company to provide autism app through innovative 'Touch Easel'

Speakall Sonzia

Graduate students Anna Goss, left, and Katelyn Warner, right, assist David Beaudoin, with using SPEAKall!®, an app that helps families dealing with autism improve communication, on the Sonzia Touch Easel device. SPEAK MODalities partnered with Sonzia, a company dedicated to providing digital access to those with special needs, to provide the SPEAKall! app pre-installed on its device. The Touch Easel provides a 32-inch touch screen that can be easily accessed by those with motor and vision disabilities. (Purdue Research Foundation photo)
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – SPEAKall!®, a tablet application developed at Purdue University that facilitates communication and language development for children and families affected by autism spectrum disorders, will now be offered pre-installed on a large touch screen learning platform that could help increase socialization and communication in children diagnosed with autism or other challenges in communicating effectively.

SPEAK MODalities, the company commercializing the SPEAKall! app and a Purdue Startup Class of 2014 member, is partnering with Sonzia, a manufacturer of uniquely accessible touch computers for individuals with special needs, to provide the app on its device. Sonzia developed the Touch Easel to allow those with different abilities unrestricted access to the digital world.

Touch Easel is a computing device with a 32-inch screen that is accessible to those with low vision and motor disabilities, and offers a touch screen, which is compatible with any prosthesis. The Easel exterior has a durable frame, is easy to replace and wheelchair accessible so that it can be easily accessed.

Oliver Wendt, co-founder of SPEAK MODalities and Purdue assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences and educational studies, said the Touch Easel collaboration will allow additional core difficulties of the autism syndrome to be addressed.

"In addition to speech and language, social interaction and social communication are other challenges for those with autism and really make a difference in a child's quality of life. A larger tablet device such as the Sonzia Touch Easel will allow several learners with autism to interact and learn together thus improving social interaction," he said. "Users also can share activities on the large tablet with typically developing children, again, training social interaction and communication while increasing inclusion and participation of that learner.

"In the end children just want to play and interact with each other, so it is essential for the learner with autism to experience social interaction as positive and motivating to make further progress in communication development. New technologies like the Touch Easel can act as a steppingstone to facilitate this journey."

Diana Hancock, co-founder of SPEAK MODalities and commercialization director of Information Technology at Purdue, said that in addition to the social and communication benefits, the device has other features that better the user experience. 

"The Touch Easel is a very versatile learning platform that can be used for a variety of educational, clinical and leisure purposes," she said. "Having a large touch screen that can be better seen, heard and touched, really allows our app to be better accessed. The device also has the potential to replace older whiteboards that are currently common in education settings although not accessible by all. Whiteboards are not movable and definitely not as easy to program and handle as the Sonzia Touch Easel."

Mihai Dinulescu, co-founder of Sonzia, said that there are a lot of software products out there that can help users with special needs but not a lot of hardware.

"Many developers, including SPEAK MODalities, have told us that they need a more classroom style, larger platform to utilize their software on, instead of using small smart phones or tablets. Our large touch surface can better help those with motor and vision disabilities, providing an easier path to learning how to use the SPEAK MODalities products for both patients and case administrators," he said. "Since partnering with SPEAK MODalities and working on our technologies we've been able to provide a lot of feedback on different aspects of each of our technologies and how we can improve to make the product most beneficial."

Dinulescu said the easel is one of the most durable and also one of the least expensive on the market.

"Our touch easel is currently for sale for around $4,000, about two thirds less expensive than current ones which can cost up to $12,000," he said. "Efficient supply chains have always been a priority in our manufacturing philosophy so we can bring costs down and have it financially accessible to people who need it."

The Touch Easel is available to purchase with the SPEAK MODalities app included. Sonzia is working on the development of a larger, 8-foot-by-6-foot touch wall that could be used for immersive clinical purposes incorporating SPEAKall!.

"This size screen could help immensely in language acquisition efforts," said Shirley Oneil, Founder and CEO of Sonzia. "My sister Donna has Down syndrome, and she was an inspiration for everything we do. Watching how creating a certain environment, or action portrayed in life size, and watching Donna interact with technology for the first time at the age of 58 demonstrated the potential to me. Together with professor Wendt and Purdue, we can better understand how these technologies can help make the digital world accessible to everyone."

The SPEAKall! and SPEAKmore! technology is patented and licensed through the Purdue Research foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.

About SPEAK MODalities

SPEAK MODalities was formed in 2013 and obtained an exclusive license to the SPEAKall! and SPEAKmore! technologies from the Purdue Research Foundation. The first commercially supported version of SPEAKall! was released in January 2014. SPEAK MODalities has a mission to expand the reach of SPEAKall! and subsequent products that assist children with special needs to develop speech and language skills.

About Sonzia

Sonzia builds accessible touch-screen technology to give learners at all levels unrestricted access to the digital world. If learners experience an intellectual, learning, or motor disability, they will require accessible technology. Sonzia is dedicated to providing these solutions.

About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year by the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Office of Technology Commercialization at innovation@prf.org.

Purdue Research Foundation contact: Hillary Henry, 765-588-3586, hkhenry@prf.org

Sources: Oliver Wendt, 765-494-2462, olli@purdue.edu

Diana Hancock, 765-494-0840, dhancock@speakmod.com

Mihai Dinulescu, mihai@sonzia.com

Shirley Oneil, s.oneil@sonzia.com 

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