Expressive visual text-to-speech as an assistive technology for individuals with autism spectrum conditions.

ABSTRACT: Adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) experience marked difficulties in recognising the emotions of others and responding appropriately. The clinical characteristics of ASC mean that face to face or group interventions may not be appropriate for this clinical group. This article explores the potential of a new interactive technology, converting text to emotionally expressive speech, to improve emotion processing ability and attention to faces in adults with ASC. We demonstrate a method for generating a near-videorealistic avatar (XpressiveTalk), which can produce a video of a face uttering inputted text, in a large variety of emotional tones. We then demonstrate that general population adults can correctly recognize the emotions portrayed by XpressiveTalk. Adults with ASC are signif

SUBMITTER: Cassidy SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4913554 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature