Call for Papers

Applied Sciences (IF: 2.474)

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/

Special Issue on Applications of Speech and Language Technologies in Healthcare

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci/special_issues/speech_language_technologies_healthcare

Speech and language technologies (SLTs) have experienced a major boom in recent years and commercial speech-enabled systems are becoming ubiquitous. Unfortunately, people with speech and language impairments often face barriers to using these technologies leading to an increasing gap between SLTs available to the general public and those accessible to people with speech impairments. Other applications of SLTs include assistive communication devices for people with speech impairments, speech-based diagnosis of certain voice and respiratory pathologies (e.g., dysphonia, vocal fold nodules, COVID-19, etc.) and, even, certain neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer?s or Parkinson?s disease. In addition, new communication interfaces with great potential are emerging, such as silent speech interfaces.

In this Special Issue, we attempt to collect relevant contributions in the development of SLTs focused on improving the integration of people with speech impairments in society, as well as for the detection and monitoring of pathologies or diseases. We also intend to attract studies on the development of applications for voice professionals in the clinical field.

We cordially invite you to participate in this special issue by submitting your recent work on the field. Relevant research topics include, but are not limited to:

• Speech and language technologies for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC);

• Silent speech interfaces;

• Voice conversion (VC) and text-to-speech (TTS) assistive communication systems;

• Automatic speech recognition for people with speech impairments;

• Diagnosis and monitoring of voice disorders and other respiratory diseases;

• Speech-based diagnosis and assessment of neurological disorders;

• Personalization of speech tools for people with speech impairments;

• Voice banking initiatives;

• Tools and software for speech therapists and clinicians.

Submission instructions

Manuscripts should be submitted online atwww.mdpi.com byregistering andlogging in to this website. Once you are registered,click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website.

Important dates:

• Submission opens: January 1, 2021

• Submission deadline: July 31, 2021

Guest editors:

• Inma Hernáez Rioja (inma.hernaez@ehu.eus), University of the Basque Country, Spain
• Jose A. Gonzalez-Lopez (joseangl@ugr.es), University of Granada, Spain
• Heidi Christensen (heidi.christensen@sheffield.ac.uk), University of Sheffield, U.K.