This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Have you ever felt like you know exactly what you want to say, but just can't get the words out? Having a word on the tip of your tongue can be frustrating at the best of times, but for people with communication difficulties, it can be a constant struggle to find the right words, make sentences and connect with others.
Now, a new Adelaide University program is using virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to create a safe space where people with speaking and communication difficulties can practice everyday conversations—from ordering a coffee to shopping for groceries—without the pressure of the real world. The Virtual Interactive platform to Treat Anomic Language (VITAL) is being developed as a virtual town square, complete with shops, restaurants, hardware stores, hair salons and other familiar places where people can practice finding words, asking questions and having conversations. Anomic language refers to difficulty finding the word a person wants to say or write down.
It is a hallmark feature of the language disorder aphasia, which affects how you use and understand language. These sorts of language difficulties occur when part of the brain is damaged, often due to a stroke, a traumatic brain injury or certain types of dementia. In Australia, about 140,000 people live with aphasia.
Led by Adelaide University professor Maria Kambanaros, the project aims to make communication therapy more realistic and engaging while investigating whether VR can improve communication confidence, social participation, well-being and quality of life for people with anomia. Kambanaros said everyday interactions that most people take for granted can become challenging for someone living with aphasia. "Something as simple as ordering a coffee, asking a question in a shop or chatting with someone you don't know can require enormous effort when you have aphasia," Kambanaros said.
"You know what you want to say but just cannot make the words come out. It can be extremely stressful and isolating because it limits a person's ability to connect and communicate with others. "VITAL is all about creating a safe and realistic place where people can practice everyday interactions repeatedly, but without the pressure or fear of getting something wrong.
Our goal is not only to improve someone's ability to find the right words, but to help people communicate with greater confidence in their everyday lives." VITAL is being co-designed with people with aphasia, alongside family members, communication partners, speech pathologists and researchers. Through interviews, group discussions and workshops, participants will help determine which places and activities should be included in the virtual world, how conversations should work and how the technology can be made comfortable and accessible. Matthew Berryman, the research is deeply personal.
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