Keywords​

Section 2

Mobile App, React Native, Expo, Accessibility, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Bluetooth.

Project Overview​

The goal of this project is to design an AAC keyboard that will make suggestions to the user based on other users within where they are located. To the users, the goal is to encourage social interactions and explore a mutual interests. To reach this goal, the app tracks the locations of each user to recommend communication options based.

Project Abstract​

This project introduces the use of Bluetooth (BLE) beacons to facilitate fluid social connections between users with accessibility issues. These users include young children and those with non-verbal disabilities, meaning a goal of the project is to seamlessly and intuitively suggest helpful words for these use-cases.

High Level Requirement​

This product is an AAC board that uses BLE devices to connect to users and suggests common interests between users. These common interest will then be offered to the users to make plans and faciliates a shared activity between usesrs.

Conceptual Design​

This product will be used on Android tablets or Apple Ipads, uses TypeScript, React Native, and python. Will use excode/expo go, IOS and Android operating systems. This product will also corraborate with BLE beacons.

Background​

Similar products include TouchChat and Proloquo4Text. These are both closed-source products that aim to build a profile for AAC users so they can be more efficient. Co-location socially aware builds a profile which encourages people to interact with other AAC users by suggesting shared interests. TouchChat allows users to create profiles, save settings, and vocabulary, allowing them to switch users quickly. Proloquo4Text also saves profiles, but it saves stored phrases, conversation blocks and does predictions. Co-location socially aware is like these products in that it creates a profile, but this profile saves the users' interests. However, this app also incorporates the unique aspect of Bluetooth low energy beacons letting two users connect, giving them speech suggestions based on their common interests. Co-location socially aware will only be like the other apps in the sense that they have profiles.

Required Resources​

Discuss what you need to develop this project. This includes background information you will need to acquire, hardware resources, and software resources. If these are not part of the standard Computer Science Department lab resources, these must be identified early and discussed with the instructor.

This product will be developed using simulators using excode, Android Tablets, excode/expo go, and Visual Studio Code.

How to Run​

This is an Expo project created with create-expo-app. Here is the Expo documentation:

Get started​

1. Navigate to the front end.

   cd claac/
   

2. Install dependencies

   npm install -g eas-cli
   

3. Create Expo account here: https://expo.dev/signup?utm_term=&utm_campaign=Starter+NDR-OTA-Performance+Max&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6617584976&hsa_cam=23485562072&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23490229162&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgKiNrdHekgMVYmRHAR1thxM2EAAYASAAEgK9tvD_BwE

   • To run from xcode on a mac device with simulators: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/downloading-and-installing-additional-xcode-components. This provides details on how to install simulators. The best performance is on an ipad simulator.

4. run eas login to login to your Expo account in your terminal

5. Start the app

   npx expo start
   

6. In the output, you'll find options to open the app - Type s to run in Expo Go and then i if you want to run on iOS simulator.

   • If you want to run on a seperate Android device, the qr code provided after step 7 can be scanned.

   • To run on as a web development, - Type s to run in Expo Go and then w .

7. Press "control + c" to stop the simulation.

Collaborators​