Software developed to record voice of woman with Motor Neuron Disease
Marino Software has developed an innovative solution to help a Motor Neurone Disease (MND) sufferer who will eventually lose her voice.
The software was designed to help Roisin, a 32-year-old mother of three from Dublin, who had been diagnosed with MND in 2017. As her motor skills deteriorate, everyday tasks are becoming very difficult. Her MND will eventually cause her to lose her ability to speak and communicate with her three daughters and family.
To allow Roisin to continue to communicate after she loses her voice, the team developed an app which would allow her to record audio and videos in her own voice – recording her thoughts, experiences and feelings and allowing her to choose who to share them with.
The solution was developed as part of RTE’s Big Life Fix programme, which brings together some of designers, engineers, computer programmers and technology experts to create tools that will radically improve people’s lives.
In addition to the main soundboard app, Marino Software built a legacy app for Roisin to be able to record audio and videos and choose who she would like to receive these. This app will keep her voice alive, pass on her experience and capture her wisdom for her children and family.
“Over the course of six months we worked with Roisin to map out the types of conversations she has most often and is most likely to continue having – from chatting with her children about school, to typical Irish discussions about the weather,” said Garrett Sheridan from Marino Software.
“We used a combination of recordings and AI-generated sentences for Roisin’s digital voice to be as close as possible to her own voice and built a solution she could start using on her tablet.
“Working with Roisin was an inspiration for all involved.
“We aimed to positively impact her life and hopefully, we’ve done that. There’s a huge opportunity to enable people through design and technology and our team is excited about building awareness about this.”
Big Life Fix will be broadcast on RTE One on 11 March.
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