Simon got orange juice instead of the orange soda he was longing for. This really disappointed him. He took his AAC and said, “Don’t want”. His mom asked, “Want it later?” Simon wanted to scream, “NO” – he was so angry!
Unfortunately, his AAC wasn’t.
Unable to accurately communicate emotions, makes him feel that his emotions are not being acknowledged or understood. Oftentimes, this leads to the feeling of loneliness in many AAC users.
To help mitigate this, Avaz is taking the first step to make communication more authentic.
Express how you feel, the way you feel it with our exciting new feature: Expressive Tones.
Emotions are Complex
Here is one of the funniest and most satisfying feedback we received from our Expressive Tones beta testers:
“We attended a family get together, and on our way back home, my husband was telling us how his nephew was listening to his advice on what should be his choice of major. Suddenly out of nowhere, we heard my daughter say, “I am sure, he did.” – in a sarcastic tone using her Avaz. We burst out laughing, and it made the conversation feel complete in a way we have never felt before.”
Emotions are an important part of the conversation that makes it more authentically ours. Emotions often go beyond the confines of what we can express with only words. We often listen to emerging communicators ‘stimming’ on their device as a way of expressing their frustration. Many a time, ‘stimming’ can also mean joy, delight or excitement. Communication partners struggle to understand and interpret such differences in emotional expressions of individuals with complex communication needs. Emotions are not limited only to those who can shrug their shoulders off, or frown their eyebrows. Everyone deserves the opportunity to convey themselves authentically and be understood.
Model with Expressive Tones
Individuals with complex communication needs have often been provided with limited opportunities to learn to express their emotions. With Expressive Tones, modelling an emotion becomes easier.
- Use our Angry Tone to differentiate whether they don’t like something or they really don’t like it
- Differentiate between an Excited Tone “Yay” and a Sarcastic Tone “Yay” to show how you feel about an ice cream vs maybe a salad?!
- Use Whisper Tone when you want to tell them a secret, and Question Tone when you are curious to know more
- They didn’t find their favourite socks today – ask them to say it with our Sad Tone.
- And tell us about all the other exciting ways you used Expressive Tones 🙂
Click here to see a short video of Expressive Tones on Avaz AAC in action!
How to Get Expressive Tones on Your AAC System
Get ready for the upcoming release of Expressive Tones, an exclusive feature to Avaz AAC. Stay tuned for the update on your Avaz App to start enjoying this exciting addition!
If you have the Avaz App downloaded on your tablet or phone, simply update the app to start using the new feature. All new downloads of the app will have this feature.
Expressive Tones will be available on both Android and iOS versions of Avaz.
Do note that this feature requires an active internet connection to function.
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning of personalised voices and tones. The advent of AI is going to change how we look at AAC tremendously in the coming years. Team Avaz is actively preparing for this transformative shift.
As always, we are eager to collaborate with you in comprehending and addressing challenges through innovative solutions.
