LifeCompanion, a customisable assistant for people who have difficulty communicating orally

Aina Relats on 11 July 2023

Personalised digital assistant that provides communication assistance and access to information technologies. It is free and open source and facilitates oral communication for people with difficulties.

LifeCompanion is a highly customisable and flexible assistant, so it can be used in different contexts, but it is mainly intended to facilitate computer access and communication. In fact, one of the outstanding features of LifeCompanion is its integrated speech synthesis, which allows users to communicate using speech. LifeCompanion thus aims to promote the social participation and autonomy of its users in areas such as communication, access to information technologies, education and employment. It also contributes to establishing social links, especially with caregivers and professionals close to them.

LifeCompanion works in such a way that it adjusts to the individual’s motor, visual, auditory or cognitive abilities and development. For example, it enables pictographic and phonetic communication, as it includes a vocabulary tree with pictograms and pictures and a customised phoneme communication keyboard. Digital keyboards can also be customised and typing can be accelerated with advanced word prediction. Among other functions, LifeCompanion also facilitates motor accessibility, anticipating movement and with advanced configurations in this area. In this regard, it is important to note that it has been co-designed by and in close collaboration with end users.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Cross-cutting intervention, Disability, Independent living, New technological tool, Personalization of the service, Process simplification, Proximity care, Right of choice of the user, Speed up response times, User empowerment

Localization

Brittany, France

Partners / Funders

Centre Mutualiste de Kerpape, CoWorkHit, Agence du Numérique en Santé, VYV3 Bretagne, Équipe Relais Handicaps Rares Bretagne, Institut Mutualiste de Formation de Bretagne, Université de Tours, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Fondation Garches, AAD Makaton, Approche

Genesis

LifeCompanion has been running since 2015 at the Kerpape Mutual Rehabilitation and Functional Rehabilitation Centre. It was initially intended to meet the needs of the centre’s patients, therapists and caregivers. Over time, the tool has evolved and adapted to meet different needs and uses. It has been used as part of the Predict4All project (2017-2021) and, within the framework of the Structures 3.0 project (2021-2022), LifeCompanion focused on meeting the needs of medico-social structures, offering support and services tailored to these environments. September 2021 saw the official launch of LifeCompanion, marking its availability to the public and the start of the service offering through CoWork’HIT.

Level of implementation

To date, LifeCompanion has proven to be a successful tool. It is considered very useful by users, allowing them quick access to active communication, autonomy and confidentiality in correspondence. It thus fulfils a basic need and enables people who have difficulty communicating orally to maintain essential links.

More information

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iCalidad, a technological tool for the quality of life of people with ASD

Aina Relats on 9 May 2023

Assessment and support tool to improve the quality of life of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. With an innovative methodology, the aspects that most affect the quality of life of a person are assessed and individualised support plans are designed, adapted to the needs, interests and expectations.

iCalidad is, therefore, a collaborative technological tool that corresponds to a system for assessing the quality of life of people with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was born out of the realisation that the assessment of this disorder is subjective and that the assessment instruments are often not adapted to the reality of the people who suffer from it, as pointed out by the advances in knowledge that show that ASD manifests itself in a very specific way in each case.

It is flexible and works in such a way that the perspective of the person with ASD is integrated into the design of their own plan, as are the families and professionals who know them best. These people constitute the evaluation team and respond individually to a questionnaire formulated by iCalidad. The technological tool systematises and compares, and also generates a quality report that integrates the responses of all the team members. It is the team that is responsible for evaluating it together with the aim of designing –by consensus– a personalised and optimal support plan.

Thus, iCalidad enables people with ASD to participate in making decisions about their lives and to achieve meaningful personal goals. It also enables families and professionals to collaborate and offer appropriate support to the person with the disorder. Finally, iQuality enables organisations to provide quality support and to respond –appropriately and innovatively– to the priorities, interests and needs of people with ASD.