Word Perfect From: U of T Magazine (University of Toronto) By: Patchen Barss New software will help people with speech problems be more clearly understood People who have challenges being understood when they speak due to stuttering or a neurological disease such as cerebral palsy – or even a heavy accent – will soon be able to use a new computer tool so they can be understood better in their own voice. The software was developed by computer science professor Frank Rudzicz through his start-up company Thotra. It can run on a personal device such as a smartphone or computer, or it can operate in a cloud-based environment to facilitate telephone conversations. A user simply speaks into a microphone, and the software transforms their words, nearly instantaneously adding dropped sounds, enunciating vowels, and removing stutters and pauses, while maintaining everything else a person says. Read the entire article at: http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/leading-edge/word-perfect-new-software-will-help-people-with-speech-problems-be-more-clearly-understood-thotra-frank-rudzicz-patchen-barss/ Link: Frank Rudzicz http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~frank/ Submitted by Alan Cantor