Interactions in the mouth : the voicemint electronic voice prosthesis

In this paper we present the VoiceMint. A device that resides in the cheek of the mouth like a candy and restores the voice of (temporarily) voiceless patients. Current voice prostheses and restoration techniques are un-intuitive and sound unpleasant and robot-like. Electronic voice prostheses in the mouth have been tried in the past, yet only recently it has become technologically feasible to integrate all electronics into a single independent device, delivering a new, surrounding aware, interaction. A new breed of intimate symbiotic devices: independent, self-contained. We present the VoiceMint in a stage where we are just starting to explore the technology: electronics, intelligibility and intuitive control. The VoiceMint aims to help patients, previously hampered in their communication, regain their natural and intuitive voice. At the same time the technology may open up the niche of more, intimate symbionts.