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VoiceItt, a Boston-based maker of software that can translates spoken words from the speech-impaired, is looking to raise $50, 000 in an online crowd funding campaign it launched Monday, the Boston Business Journal reported.
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Israeli-born Danny Weissberg founded VoiceItt in 2012, after his grandmother’s stroke severely impaired her speech.
“We started talking to speech and occupational therapists and the more we talked the more we understood how strong the need is, ” Weissberg said in an interview.
According to his website, approximately 1.5% of the Western world’s population live with speech disabilities caused by a variety of medical conditions. These include, but are not limited to, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Cerebral Palsy, Stroke, Brain Damage, Autism, and Parkinson’s Disease.
The software, called TalkItt, recognizes the user’s vocal patterns and “speaks” their words in an understandable language, allowing them to communicate clearly and easily with anyone, anywhere and in any language they choose.
TalkItt creates a dictionary of sounds and their meanings, learning each individual’s way of speaking. The user speaks a word, associates it with a word on the software, and the app recalls the translation.
The software runs on tablets and smart phones, and Weissberg wants to offer it in the future for smart watches and Google Glass.
