An on-line system for remote treatment of aphasia

Aphasia treatment for the recovery of lost communication functionalities is possible through frequent and intense speech therapy sessions. In this sense, speech and language technology may provide important support in improving the recovery process. The aim of the project Vithea (Virtual Therapist for Aphasia Treatment) is to develop an on-line system designed to behave as a virtual therapist, guiding the patient in performing training exercises in a simple and intuitive fashion. In this paper, the fundamental components of the Vithea system are presented, with particular emphasis on the speech recognition module. Furthermore, we report encouraging automatic word naming recognition results using data collected from speech therapy sessions.