Innovation: Talking cure

THE University of Edinburgh's Centre for Speech Technology Research has started a two-year project to modify technology it developed for learning foreign languages so that it may be used in speech rehabilitation for people with impaired hearing. The aim is to produce a computer system that will process the voices of impaired speakers and then identify and advise on pronunciation errors. Users will be guided through a set of lessons on intonation, rhythm, stress, and vowel and consonant pronunciation that gradually will improve speech.