Design and development of a mixed reality application for aphasia rehabilitation: The ICMR-MiRAR project

BACKGROUND: Aphasia is an impaired ability to use language for communication after a brain damage. The primary means of intervention for aphasia – Speech-Language therapy (SLT) – usually involves didactic interaction between the Speech-Language therapist and the client, often without regard to the real-life environments in which the communication occurs. The provision of SLT in natural environments is beyond the scope of the conventional, clinic-based intervention setups. Using the technological advances, the Mixed Reality in Aphasia Rehabilitation (MiRAR) aims to make persons with aphasia (PwA) use their language in an ecologically valid and meaningful manner in natural communication contexts. AIM: This report aims to delineate the design and development of a Mixed Reality environment (MR: i.e., augmented + virtual realities (i.e., AR + VR)) to provide social communicative intervention for PwA. METHODS: We describe the concept and provide the details of the development and deployment of a communication-based mixed reality application for PwA in the Indian context. For this purpose, we generated 20 distinct communication scenarios and their scripts. These scenarios were implemented into the Mixed Reality environment with the help of a hired technical team. RESULTS: The 20 scenarios were successfully developed and deployed into the Mixed Reality environment for the purpose of communication intervention for PwA. The program consists of a web-based admin panel (for SLPs) and a Mixed Reality application (for the PwA). CONCLUSIONS: The MiRAR program is expected to foster the delivery of speech-language therapy in a meaningful, controlled and simulated environments by the SLPs, thus alleviating the practical restraints of conventional clinical setups. The clinical trial of this intervention program is planned in the next phase of this ongoing project.