TL;DR
- The Project Relate app is a new attempt by Google to make technology more inclusive.
- The app aims to make it easier for those with speech impairments to communicate with people and digital assistants.
- You can find the app in beta at the moment, and Google needs help refining the technology.
There are millions of people around the world who are speech impaired. Multiple diseases and syndromes can drastically impair speech such as ALS, Cerebral Palsy, or Parkinson’s disease. Additionally, people who suffer from a traumatic brain injury or stroke can also find themselves with speech impairments.
Google wants to make things easier for people in these situations. That’s why it created a new app called Project Relate. The app is designed to make it easier for the speech-impaired to communicate with other people. It will also make Google’s own Google Assistant more inclusive, as speech-impaired people can have difficulties issuing voice commands.
There are three main functions of the Project Relate app:
- Listen: The Relate app transcribes your speech to text in real-time. You can then copy-paste the text into other apps, or let people read what you want to tell them.
- Repeat: The app will restate what you’ve said using a clear, synthesized voice. This can be especially helpful in face-to-face conversation or even when you want to speak a command to your home assistant device.
- Assistant: Speak directly to your Google Assistant from within the Relate app, so you can take care of different tasks, such as turning on the lights or playing a song, with ease.
Currently, the app is in beta. Google is looking for English-speaking individuals with speech impairments to test it out. This testing will help refine the app to make it work better for everyone. If you are interested or know someone who might be, check this link to submit your interest to Google.
