Vox4all® - The voice at your fingertips by imagina

Imagina is a company that has been working in the last years in the area of technology enhanced learning. We privilege for several years the use of inclusive software, the participation of everybody. We are a company that invests very much on research and development. We are continuously involved in projects with other partners, even at the European level. We currently have an ongoing project called TOPQX, everyone can learn anytime, anywhere. And as part of this project there was a need expressed by several users of augmentative and alternative communication to create a new product that we called Vox4all. Vox4all will thus meet a need that we have identified in the market. Because traditionally there are communication devices or materials on paper or on computer. Vox4all is a product that was designed for mobile devices, tablets and smartphones. To work on Android and iOS operating systems. It is a system made in Portugal, although for the global market is therefore developed in Portuguese, also in Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and English. Vox4all is an augmentative and alternative communication system thought and designed to help people with special communication needs. People with autism, people with cerebral palsy, people with Down syndrome. But also other conditions, such as diseases, disabilities, disorders that somehow compromise the ability to communicate. But not only that: anyone at some point in their life may have a problem that temporarily let them unable to communicate. It is necessary for that person to have a tool that allows her during that period to continue to do something that is innate to human beings... that is intrinsic, that is, to communicate. Vox4all is an augmentative and alternative communication system based on grids or boards. There are communication boards built with cells. On each cell we can have a symbol, text, recorded voice, photos. Pretty soon we will also include text to speech. Therefore the possibility of having any text being automatically spoken without the need for previous recording. The symbols we are using are symbols from the Widgit Literacy Symbols system. The system is now widely used throughout the world. They are characterized by being simple, intuitive, inclusive, adapted to different ages without any difficulty. Imagina is using them in other software, such as Communicate Symwriter, Communicate InPrint, Adventures 2. It is an inclusive system, because besides being an augmentative and alternative communication system, it also makes learning of reading and writing easier. And also literacy in general. It is a system that can be used by everybody for learning and communication. So we transformed a communication system in an application that is available on any tablet, any smartphone. Taking advantage of the numerous benefits that these devices give us when compared to traditional communication systems. First we were constrained to a particular place, with a communication device, with a communication notebook or with a computer. But now we make communication possible anywhere and in any context. So we don’t need to be confined to a place and we can communicate freely anywhere. For example, first we had a communication notebook, where one had to flip through several pages to get to the symbol or the image that best suited. Now we have everything within the reach of a touch. All this in an easy and interactive process. Equipament such as smartphones and tablets give us this possibility, that is to touch and to have a huge amount of alternatives before us. We are talking about highly generalized equipment that everyone knows and that everyone knows what they are. We walk down the street and it's cool to walk with a smartphone or tablet. E por isso a sua oferta no mercado é cada vez maior com mais funcionalidades e a um custo mais baixo. So, no doubt, that when we think about apps for people with disabilities or people with other special needs we have to think more and more in these equipment and these new technologies. They are a natural choice. To make this product as close to users’ needs as possible, we are working in partnership with several institutions. In a way that techicians, therapits, people that deal with people with communication needs can give us their opinion, test the product, give their feedback. For Imagina working in partnership is very important because we are not interested in developing products designed inside an office, but we want products that really have the feedback of their own users. We focused very much in what today is called the co-design, ie, involving users in software conception, development, testing and validation in a way that it can adapt and adjust to the real needs of users. We are always opened to sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences. Vox4all, the voice at your fingertips. THE VOICE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS