SwiftKey Symbol app helps non-verbal kids communicate

Popular third part keyboard app SwiftKey has launched a new app called Symbols, a symbol-based assistive communication app targeted at non-verbal individuals with special needs. Swiftkey states that the app is geared towards youngsters with autism who find it difficult to communicate. It is said to effect around one percent of the world's population.

The app lets users build a sentence by choosing images from different categories like people, actions, colors and from the smart suggestion bar. The app utilises prediction technology of the SwiftKey SDK. It is also capable of suggesting expressions to use next. The more a user uses the app, the better it becomes in prediction. 

Another key feature is the day and time specific predictions. With this feature the app monitors what symbols have been used at what time of the day and day of the week. This will result in giving more relevant predictions in future. Swift key explains this feature with an example "if the child has music class on Tuesdays at 11:00am, and has previously selected  symbols during that time, these will appear as predicted symbols in the sentence strip."

The app is customisable as users can add their own images and categories, and use audio playback, a speech-to-text feature that can read sentences.

The SwiftKey Symbols app is only available for Android, but will be released to other platforms as well. It supports Android devices running Android 4.4 KitKat or higher.

SwiftKey also stated that its core technology is being used by professor Stephen Hawking and an Israeli startup called Click2Speak. They are working towards bringing better ways of for people with mobility issues to communicate.

Download SwiftKey Symbols (Free) for Android 

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