TouchChat™ Suite for iPod/iPhone/iPad

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Silver Kite introduces a suite of products that enable Apple's iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices to play an important role in providing an alternative voice for individuals who cannot use their natural speech. For some, the Silver Kite products will serve as a beginning point while a more permanent solution is determined. Others will use the Silver Kite 'i-solutions' as a backup to a larger, more expensive device. There will also be those who find that these products provide their long-term communication needs. Because of these varied needs Silver Kite has recognized the need for an integrated system of communication software that allows users to choose and move freely between dedicated and more open communication solutions. In all cases, Silver Kite offers an array of products and solutions that meet the needs of individuals with a wide variety of communication needs.

TouchChat

TouchChat is a full featured communication application for iPod/iPad technology. TouchChat fits into the product category of Augmentative Communication (AAC) devices. AAC devices allow individuals who cannot speak to communicate by spelling or selecting icons from a visual display. Words, phrases and messages are spoken with a built-in voice synthesizer or by playing back a recorded message. Five synthesized voices are available, allowing you to choose a voice that meets your own personality. In order to communicate silently in noisy environments, TouchChat also has a unique feature whereby one can simply tilt the device to make the message expand to fill the entire screen in large letters.

TouchChat gives an individual the ability to navigate through page sets and speak messages. Page sets are linked pages, each of which is divided into a number of buttons. The buttons are programmed to have specific actions. For example, buttons may be programmed to speak a message, navigate to a different page, change the volume, clear the display, etc. Four page sets are included with the TouchChat:

  • VocabPC: Designed by Gail Van Tatenhove, PA, MS, CCC-SLP, for adults and adolescents with developmental disabilities. Vocabulary in VocabPC is arranged as carrier phrases, interactive sentences, activity vocabulary and naming words. VocabPC uses a 12 location page layout. Both portrait and landscape versions of VocabPC are included.

  • MultiChat 15 has been created for school-aged individuals with emerging language skills. There are multiple forms of communication available in this program: sentences, phrases, individual words, recordings for story-telling and visual scenes. Also included are interactive play and reading pages, and social pages. There are symbols on every button with the exception of several core words.
  • Spelling is a QWERTY keyboard page set with four word prediction buttons and a few pre-stored phrases
  • Primary is a page set designed for children and contains vocabulary for home, school and general communication. It contains a combination of words, phrases and sentences. Both portrait and landscape versions of Primary are included with TouchChat.

You can also customize the TouchChat vocabulary. This powerful application allows you to personalize existing pages and buttons, create pages, or even create your own personal page set. You decide how many buttons to display on a page. You can select the image, label, spoken message, color, and font. Select from over 30 button actions when creating new buttons (examples: speak a message, navigate to a different page, clear the display, play an audio file, etc.). Over 10,000 symbols are included for customizing buttons. You can also use your own images or take photos with the built-in camera.

You can also choose gestures for doing tasks such as navigating to a new page or clearing the display.

If you want access to even more vocabulary, you have several options. You can purchase additional page sets through in-App purchase, or you can subscribe to iShare where you can download page sets from a community of TouchChat users.

TouchChat is available from iTunes at an introductory price of $149

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iShare

With thousands of teachers, clinicians and parents creating pages for AAC devices all over the world, why not share page sets with one another? Or, let’s say that as a therapist, you create a page set to allow a particular student to participate in an activity. Wouldn’t it be great to have that same page set available on other students’ iPods – without needing to connect the device to a computer? iShare allows this, and it also enables you to store your personal page sets in a private, online folder.

iShare is a subscription that gives a TouchChat device access to a large server, through the wireless connection on the iPod, iPhone or iPad. You are given access to a private section that only you can access. This is where you can store your personal files. You are also given access to a sharing section of the server. Here, you can post page sets that you want to share with others, and download page sets that others have posted.

Note: Each device that participates in iShare must have its own iShare subscription and must have connection to a wireless network.

Six-month subscriptions to iShare are purchased for $59 as an in-App purchase from the TouchChat application.

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Page Sets and Symbol Sets

TouchChat allows the easy creation of different page sets, but is unique in the ease with which users can benefit from professionally made vocabulary sets which match the users communication style and abilities. Many renowned clinicians are already working with Silver Kite to offer vocabulary sets which can come preloaded in the software or added later as accessories. Silver Kite encourages speech professionals in the field to create page sets and make them available as in-app purchases from TouchChat. Currently, two page sets are available and others are under development.

WordPower for TouchChat is a special version of this popular word-based vocabulary, designed specifically for the small iPod screen. It is a word-based page set developed by Nancy L. Inman, M.A.T., CCC-SLP that is used to create sentences "on the fly." Exclusive to the TouchChat software, WordPower contains two page sets. The traditional version uses high-frequency core words to facilitate quick and easy sentence generation. It also includes nouns and adjectives that are organized in logical categories. All grammatical word classes have been included. As a sentence is being built, you often find that the next word you want to say can be spoken with one or two button presses. "Grammar" keys are used to provide morphological endings to verbs, nouns and adjectives. A spelling/word prediction page is used to spell words that are not included as separate buttons on the pages. Being a word-based vocabulary, this page set can be used by a wide age group. Nouns, adjectives and verbs can be added and customized to meet the particular needs of the individual. WordPower uses a 24-location keyboard layout.

A second page set is included with the WordPower add-on. 'WordPower 24 with Phrases' is designed for individuals who are unable to use a word-based vocabulary design, but are able to generate novel thoughts using carrier phrases and semantic categories.

WordPower for TouchChat is available as a $149 in-App purchase in TouchChat. It can also be purchased from iTunes, bundled with TouchChat.

iEssence is a redesigned version of the more comprehensive Essence vocabulary available on the Prentke Romich Company's ECO™, Vantage™, and Vanguard™ voice output communication aids. It was designed to provide a speech support system for people with degenerative medical conditions that have rendered them speechless but who still maintain the ability to spell.

The main client group for whom this vocabulary was designed is people with ALS(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or MND(Motor Neurone Disease), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. There may be people with other conditions who could find iEssence useful but they need to have the ability to touch small keys and be able to read and spell.

iEssence is available as a $99 in-App purchase in TouchChat.

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TouchChat Windows Editor

TouchChat Windows Editor

TouchChat Windows Editor is a Windows program that allows a clinician, teacher or parent to create page sets on a computer and then transfer them to a TouchChat device through iShare. Besides allowing the convenience of using a Windows computer with a full keyboard, this program offers a number of customization features that are not available in TouchChat. Examples of the additional functionality provided by TouchChat Windows Editor include:

  • The ability to move page sets that you have created in TouchChat to a ChatPC or ALT-Chat
  • The ability to copy pages from one page set to another
  • The ability to drag and drop buttons during customization
  • The ability to define gesture actions for multiple pages at once.

Note: A subscription to iShare is necessary to share files on iShare.

TouchChat Windows Editor is available for $59 at http://store.silver-kite.com/product_info.php/products_id/497.

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Support

While augmentative communication software on iPods and iPads allow much functionality at a very low price, customer support for these products is limited as compared to traditional, dedicated AAC devices. While this is also true of TouchChat, Silver Kite offers a number of support options which are not typically available for such applications. Available support for TouchChat includes:

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Packages

Coming Soon

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The fit of iApps among AAC Options

Silver Kite is very excited to offer TouchChat as a technological solution for individuals who cannot speak. The TouchChat suite provides many benefits and features that were previously only available on more expensive devices. In fact, iShare offers connectivity to a global community that previously was not available on any AAC device. However, while price, size and technology are a significant advantage of TouchChat, Silver Kite does not want to imply that iPods and iPads are the best solution for all individuals needing a communication device. Other factors to consider include:

  • Durability: iPods, iPhones, and iPads are consumer devices that are designed for traditional consumer applications. Often individuals who need assistive speech devices also need a rugged device to meet their daily needs. Even with protective cases, iPods, iPhones and iPads do not match the ruggedness of most dedicated AAC devices and are not covered under warranty when damaged by conditions in which assistive speech devices are often used.
  • Product Support: While Silver Kite has made a commitment to providing support that is often not available for iApps, this support does not match the level that often accompanies the more expensive dedicated solutions (in-services, free trainings, telephone support, etc.).
  • Funding: Many sources of funding such as Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance providers, which typically provide funding for AAC devices, exclude products that are built on technology that allows non-AAC functionality. iPods, iPhones and iPads are thus excluded from these funding sources.
  • Access: While many individuals needing an assistive speech device can access a traditional touch screen, others cannot. Dedicated devices often have alternative selection options for individuals who have difficulty accessing the screen.

At Silver Kite we are working to identify how new technologies and strategies can be effectively integrated into the overall assistive speech solution for persons who use AAC. TouchChat may be used as a temporary solution until the permanent solution is identified or realized. It may serve as a portable backup for someone who uses a dedicated speech device. For these reasons we are sure that the ease with which page sets can be created or purchased and (using TouchChat Windows Editor) converted and moved between the different hardware solutions such as Saltillo Corporation’s ChatPC and ALT-Chat means that TouchChat is a software solution that fills a real need in the provision of AAC solutions.

For additional AAC device solutions, visit www.saltillo.com.

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