Developing an app using artificial intelligence to help stutterers communicate

The Accessibility Design Competition 2023 (ADC 2023) is an annual competition for students organized by RMIT University Vietnam to encourage innovative ideas that promote inclusion for people with disabilities in the workplace.

With the slogan “Make Change. Make Possible,” ADC Season 3 attracted the participation of over 110 students in the Asia- Pacific region, along with 40 experts from various fields serving as mentors, coaches, and judges for the competition.

ADC 2023 comprises a range of activities taking place over a two-month period, from expert-led classes and workshops to mentoring sessions and networking events. This series of activities equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop solutions that promote inclusion for people with disabilities and achieve success in the competition.

Students participating in the competition not only gain knowledge about the lives and practical challenges faced by people with disabilities in the workplace, but also learn how to create practical and sustainable business plans for their proposed prototypes.

According to the organizers, out of 36 teams that registered for ADC 2023, the six best teams qualified for the final round to present their ideas live to the audience. These teams mainly came from universities in Vietnam.

Three members of the ATP team along with representatives from their business partners.

In the final results, the ATP team, consisting of three students from RMIT University Vietnam, won the overall competition thanks to their application designed for people who stutter or have difficulty communicating verbally in daily life. The ATP team included two Bachelor of Communication students, Pham Khanh Phuong and Nguyen Ha Thanh, and a Bachelor of Information Technology student, Nguyen Quoc An.

This group of students also recently won the “Microsoft APAC AI for Accessibility Hackathon 2023” in Vietnam. This competition, organized by Microsoft in the Asia- Pacific region, seeks innovative initiatives using artificial intelligence to improve the daily lives of people with disabilities.

The ATP team came up with the idea for AI Speech Companion after researching numerous studies and shared stories showing that people who stutter face various forms of discrimination and disadvantages in the workplace. The application aims to help people who stutter prepare adequately for important activities such as presentations or interviews.

ATP team leader Pham Khanh Phuong explained that the application can support users in creating content and provide them with an environment to practice expressing that content. People with stuttering problems will feel less stressed and more confident when going to work.

“AI Speech Companion is designed for the entire communication journey, even providing emergency support when users feel anxious or nervous during communication activities,” added student Pham Khanh Phuong.

Commenting on the ATP team's prototype, Mario Mendis, General Manager of Sofitel Saigon Plaza Hotel and a member of the ADC 2023 judging panel, said: “This is a fantastic support mechanism. I think it could help many people by providing them with a personal speech therapist.”

Another member of the ADC 2023 judging panel, Anne-Cathrine Koch, Director of Digital and IT Operations for Asia Pacific at Schaeffler, commented: “I really liked the user interface design and user experience. The seamless integration of the different AI functionalities was also very impressive.”

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