A Little Bit of Magic

Whether for accurate production of a target by simply encouraging an autistic child to make a sound, a hearing-impaired child to produce a sound or word accurately, of a stutterer to achieve fluency in connected speech, Video Voice motivates and applauds the desired speech behavior with colorful, graphic animations and sounds.  These reward graphics can be automatic in response to a therapist-defined goal, or manually activated by clicking the Reward button.

A while back, a husband and wife Behavioral Psychology consulting team visited our office to discuss how Video Voice might be helpful in their practice.  They work with children on the low-functioning end of the autism spectrum.  The wife, who is also a Speech-Language Pathologist, was well-acquainted with the power of Video Voice, having successfully used an earlier version (Apple IIe!!) previously in a school setting.   The husband wanted something more than a clickable Reward button, though.  He wanted to be able to activate rewards himself, secretly.  This would give him control over the reinforcement schedule, and let him "applaud" even minimal vocalization.  In his words, he wanted a "remote clicker."  The goal was for the child to associate vocalization with something fun on the screen, something he made happen by using his voice. 

In the release of Version 3.0.129, this idea came to fruition, and works anywhere you see a Reward button.  Simply start the display, then slide the cursor down to any empty space on the red button bar at the bottom of the screen.  Encourage the child to use his voice, and whenever you think he should be rewarded, right-click the mouse, and voila!  A congratulatory message and/or reward animation or progress toward a game goal will happen. Magic!!

If you have a wireless mouse, you can pick it up and place it at your side where the click won't be seen or heard.  Your mouse becomes your "remote control."  You might want to practice this on your own first, to develop a polished "slight of hand."

Hint: for a little more “magic,” remember that you can also customize the reward text and audios to personalize the experience for each child.  See our earlier post on Personalizing Feedback for more details on modifying Video Voice audio and video rewards.

You may find some individuals are motivated by the visual feedback alone - the colorful, changing displays in Pitch Painting and Kaleidoscope, movement of the train, car or horse in Chat-N-U-Go Choo-Choo, appearance of hidden pictures in Voice-A-Sketch, “eating up the dots” in Formant Gobble (Pac Man for speech!) mode. We've certainly heard from many therapists that their “kids” never want to quit trying!

In addition to animated graphic rewards, in some games and displays, performance at a therapist-defined goal reveals colorful congratulatory messages and sounds.  The child seeing his name on the electronic billboard also makes those rewards especially effective.

We're always on the lookout for new ideas on how to improve Video Voice.    Let us hear yours, too!

Yours in good speech,

Video Voice Support Team
mv@videovoice.com
1-800-537-2182
www.videovoice.com

Why No Built-In Models?

We recently had someone ask why we don't have any samples of correct production of "default speech models" built into Video Voice. Well, there are several reasons why we decided to let the therapist or another speaker be in charge of providing the models of target words, sounds, and phrases in Video Voice, rather than doing it ourselves.

First of all, do you know how many words there are in the English language alone? According to the Global Language Monitor, there are now more than 1,000,000 words in the English language, and a new one is coined approximately every 98 minutes! To define and produce models for even 10% of them would be a daunting task!

F2/F1  pattens for "bit" (red)  and "beet"

Temporal display - Mechanical engineer

A second reason is that we don't know what speech issues any given child  (or adult) may have or what type of sounds or words that person needs to practice. Is it a small child who needs to learn basic production of sounds and simple words?  Or is it a non-native speaker who needs to learn the difference between two similar sounds such as /e/ and /I/ (/e/ as in “sheet metal”) or the appropriate rate/timing in a phrase such as “mechanical engineer”?  The target models and way to illustrate them is really up to the therapist to decide!

Third, there are significant dialectical differences across regions in this large country. "Normal" largely depends on where you happen to be located. A person from the northeast part of the country and a person in the south may pronounce the same word quite differently. Here's a link to a fascinating set of 22 national maps showing dialects' impact on speech that graphically illustrate some of these geographical differences.

Illustrating Dialectical Differences in "Yes

Take, for example, a simple word like “Yes,” and how differently it can sound coming from the mouths of celebrities Katie Couric and Paula Deen.  Katie would say “yEHs” while Paula’s vocalization would be more like “YAY-us.” Which is right and which is wrong? Really depends on where you are, doesn't it?  This screen image shows how these two productions would look in Video Voice (the shorter "yEHs" is in blue, "YAY-us" in red.)  Illustrating these kinds of differences makes the feedback effective for both accent reduction (ESL) or training (e.g., actors), as well as learning basic production of sounds.

Then there's the fact that people have different voice qualities. A man with a low-timbered voice and a woman with a higher-pitched voice would not tend to “score” well against each other's models, but their fundamental frequency differences will certainly be visible.  If a woman needs to lower her speaking pitch, or a man raise his, that can be accomplished with the visual feedback in Video Voice.

Therapists can define the models themselves, or have a speaker of the same age and voice quality do the voicing of target sounds and words for individuals in their caseloads. If you're working with children, for example, perhaps having the “cool kid” in the class be the one to create models could be a good strategy.  However, when the person receiving therapy does an accurate production of a desired sound/word, it's very easy, and desirable, to turn that production into the model. It's always easiest to match your own voice productions.

In conclusion, when looking at Video Voice for your speech needs, bear in mind that it is not a speech recognition program. It's a tool designed for training vocal production, one that illustrates sound and voice quality characteristics in various ways, offering an entertaining and motivating framework for learning, practicing, and improving speech skills.

Yours in good speech,

Video Voice Support Team
mv@videovoice.com
1-800-537-2182

What's New? Version 3.0.128 Has Launched!

Long time, no blog...  Perhaps you thought we'd dropped off the face of the earth.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  We've been busy for a number of months working on the recent release of Video Voice Version 3.0.128.  Just when we were about ready to release it last fall, Microsoft threw us a bit of a curve ball with their own release of the new Windows 8 operating system.  If you have tried it, you know that it's very different from earlier versions of Windows!  Rather than release the new version with unknown compatibility, we spent the next several months making sure Video Voice will operate correctly on this new platform.

Now, FINALLY, we're happy to announce the release Version 3.0.128.  In addition to Windows 8 compatibility and all its previous, fabulous features and capabilities, Video Voice 3.0 now includes:

• Fundamental frequency measurement to complement other Assessment capabilities.
• Customization of on-screen reward text and other prompts to correspond with user-modified audios to personalize the therapy experience
• Enhanced trace operation in the Multi-Frequency Formant Spectral Display to make it easier to capture sounds for practice, opening up potential for work on minimal pairs, in addition to high frequency sounds and more
• Goal scoring in the Formant Multi-Frequency Gobble game to make display more effective for therapy use
• F2/F1 and Multi-Frequency (F3/F2) Gobble display access directly from Formant Menu to make reaching this powerful feedback mode easier.
• Simultaneous display of pitch and volume in P-A-R Connected Speech, with volume shown as peaks and pitch in spectrum colors
• New Streaming Speech P-A-R display, provides live, "marching" display of pitch, volume, or both volume and pitch (as color) 
• New Fun & Games 12-Pack, a lower price option for those with limited budgets or interest only in game practice options
• Price reduction on all other software packages
• Revised internal documentation (Help) with more internal links to relevant pages
• Improved Windows 7 operation

There are numerous benefits to purchasing the Video Voice Speech Training System.  The most important one is the change the displays and games bring to the therapy process - helping individuals feel more in charge of their speech skills.  Another significant benefit is that software updates are FREE.  As we add new features and capabilities, you may download and install a new copy at no additional cost.

Already an Authorized User?  Please visit www.videovoice.com/vv_curel.htm to download Version 3.0.128 and update your Video Voice software.    

Haven't yet made the investment in this valuable tool for your speech therapy activities?  What are you waiting for?  Download Video Voice 3.0 and try it for 30 days, with absolutely no charge, at www.videovoice.com/vv_demo.htm.

We'll be back soon to tell you more about some of these new capabilities and offer more thoughts on how visual feedback can accelerate the therapy process.  Meanwhile, have questions?  Need assistance with using Video Voice with your caseload?  Want to restart a free trial you previously used to evaluate Video Voice's potential for your therapy needs?  Just pick up the phone and give us a call, or send an email.  We'd love to hear from you!

Yours in good speech,

Video Voice Support Team

1-800-537-2182

mv@videovoice.com