Intel, Dell Technologies, Rolls-Royce and the Motor Neurone Disease Association announced I Will Always Be Me, a digital storybook created using voice banking technology that drives positive change for people with motor neurone disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). I Will Always Be Me is an interactive website created for people living with MND and their loved ones. Anyone can visit to record their voice by reading a 1,000-word story aloud in a process that takes about 20 minutes. The book contains critical words and phrases needed to complete the voice banking process.
The processed vocals are turned into a digital voice that individuals living with MND can use on any assistive speech device, allowing an individual to communicate with a voice that is identifiably their own. Visitors to the website can also listen to stories about the complexity and challenges of living with MND as told through the voices of people living with MND.
At some point in time, one of every 300 people will be diagnosed with MND, according to the MND Association. It’s a rare, crippling condition that progressively robs people of the ability to move, eat, drink and, eventually, speak. (Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away in 2018, had ALS.) While scientists haven’t discovered a cure yet, technology can help those living with the disease.
