This episode is about communication via your voice. Are you being heard? Speech issues is one of those symptoms People with Parkinson’s most likely will need to address as part of the journey with this disease. Does Siri or Alexa understand you? Is it frustrating to use these smart voice assistants? Well, my guests are working to change all of that.

This episode is about how technology may be able to help us with communicating when our speech isn’t as understandable as it once was. A very smart team at the University of Illinois Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology is working to collect voice recordings that are being used to train AI technology how to recognize speech patterns from people who are having speech issues due to their disease progression including Parkinson’s, ALS, and stroke. They are partnered with all the big names in the tech world with the goal of improving the tech in order to improve our quality of life.

Let’s find out about this important effort and how all of us can get involved.

https://speechaccessibilityproject.beckman.illinois.edu/

https://www.dbsandme.com/en.html