Speech development and therapy using the Kinect

The use of computers and technology to treat patients with developmental problems or rehabilitation needs is an emerging field. Implementation of such treatment methods however has not traditionally been easy, requiring expensive equipment, significant programming experience and the time of trained medical professionals. The release of gaming systems with natural user interfaces has opened up new possibilities for creating home based therapy and rehabilitation systems that are more engaging, affordable and customisable to individual needs. This project leverages the high quality voice and facial recognition capabilities of the Microsoft Kinect natural user interface, and affordable hardware, to provide an interactive speech therapy application that can be used by patients in their own homes, whilst also collecting metric data for remote monitoring by medical professionals to ensure that engagement with, and appropriate progression of, treatment is occurring.