We also collaborated closely with Acapela Group to get their voices ported to iOS as we needed text to speech capability. As early adopters of this technology we had to struggle with a lot of limitations no longer present on the most recent iPhones and iPads. It was a lot of work, especially to make things run smoothly on the relatively slow first iOS devices.
#Proloquo meaning mac
Rather than do a straight port from our Mac application we started from scratch in order to build something optimized for the iOS platform and the way users interact with devices such as iPhone and iPad. So it made a lot of sense to us to make a version for the iPhone and later add support for the iPad too. Proloquo was great for home use and for use by people who mounted a laptop on a wheelchair, but it really needed a more mobile platform. Proloquo was a nice application, but not that many people want to go shopping and pull out their laptop any time they want to say something.
#Proloquo meaning for mac os x
When Apple came out with the iPhone many people asked us to make something like our Proloquo for Mac OS X available for iPhone. How did AssistiveWare get started making iDevice apps, and what was that process like? When the version for iPhone had to be named, it made sense to call it Proloquo2Go (i.e. Also, it is nice to have a name that is more international in character than when using English words. For example, most names with words such as speech, speak, voice are already in use by telecom companies. It means “speak out loud” in Latin and was chosen because it is really hard to find a name for a product that is not already used in one way or another by another company. How was the name Proloquo2Go chosen? īack in 2005, Proloquo was chosen as the name for an AAC solution that AssistiveWare had developed for Mac OS X. While I have a PhD in environmental and agricultural sciences and have been involved in various international projects in that field (I am specialized in land degradation and desertification), I decided to focus on working with and for people with disabilities after my friend Giesbert had his accident. I am the founder and CEO of AssistiveWare. What is your role, and how did your background prepare you for working at AssistiveWare? In 2010, another product for iOS was released, the visual story telling app Pictello and in 2011 another Mac OS X solution for people with vision impairments called Magnilink iMax was released, distributed by LVI International. By now AssistiveWare, still based in Amsterdam, Netherlands has expanded to a small but dedicated team with team members based in three different continents. After the iPhone came out and Apple allowed the development of third party software, I started working on Proloquo2Go, the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) solution that was eventually released in April 2009 and became the foundation of the consumer device based AAC revolution.
#Proloquo meaning software
Later I released KeyStrokes as freeware but got so many requests for improvements that I decided that if I was to make all those improvements I would need to cut down on my university job and start a software development business.ĪssistiveWare was founded in 2000 and over time I developed software for Mac OS X to provide computer access for people with physical impairments ( KeyStrokes and SwitchXS), vision impairments ( VisioVoice), speech impairments ( Proloquo) and reading difficulties ( GhostReader). I developed KeyStrokes, an on-screen keyboard for the Mac so that Giesbert could not only type using a HeadMouse but also access all the keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop (see ). Tell us about AssistiveWare - how it got started, when, and what products you make.ĪssistiveWare has its roots in 1995 when Giesbert, a friend of mine, had a serious car accident and broke his neck. David Niemeijer is the founder and CEO of AssistiveWare, and talked with TPGA about the past, present, and future of AssistiveWare and their apps. They also make the excellent social story app Pictello. AssistiveWare’s Proloquo2Go is one of the most popular software programs and now apps for people who use AAC - Augmentative and Alternative Communication.
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