VirtualVictor to help disabled speak with iPhone

An iPad and iPhone app was reported near launch today that could help children with cognitive disabilities speak through their handhelds. VirtualVictor should help those with the rare Pitt Hopkins Syndrome and similar developmental limits communicate by using audiovisual notes. Parents can snap photos and record sound clips that, together, let children communicate by association rather than having to speak or write.

Its creator, Paul Pauca, told the AP he named the app after his son Victor, who suffers from Pitt Hopkins. He was spurred by the high costs of existing options, which can cost as much as $8,200, and worked with students he teaches at Wake Forest University to develop a better alternative.

The app needs an iPhone, a fourth-generation iPod touch or likely a future iPad to work, although the combined solution should be much less expensive than alternatives, many of which either use older technology.

Anyone will have access to the app early next week, when it will cost $10.

By Electronista Staff