Research project · ongoing
Selbst.Verständlich
Understanding communication. Enabling independent action.
People who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication can express wishes, questions and decisions — including what they want to do in the digital world. The digital actions that follow still often require another person to carry them out. Selbst.Verständlich investigates where this gap appears in everyday life and how technology could help reduce it.
- Duration
- October 2025 – June 2027
- Funding
- FFG Expedition Zukunft Innovation
- Project lead
- Independo GmbH
- Status
- Ongoing
When communication stops before the action begins
Checking the weather. Sending a message. Looking up information. Using a digital service.
People who use AAC can communicate these intentions, but the digital action itself often still has to be performed by somebody else.
For example, a person can ask about the weather with their communication device — but cannot simply open the weather app themselves, choose the location and have the forecast read aloud. That still usually takes support from somebody else.
What we want to understand
In which everyday situations does a dependency arise between what a person communicates and the digital action that follows? And how could technical systems bridge this gap in a meaningful way?
We therefore look not only at communication tools themselves, but also at the situations, people and digital systems surrounding communication and action.
How we research
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Step 1
Observe and understand everyday life
We accompany people who use AAC in selected everyday situations and investigate where communication meets digital barriers.
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Step 2
Analyse situations
We analyse the material qualitatively to understand recurring requirements and particularly relevant situations.
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Step 3
Develop approaches
Together with expertise from AAC, linguistics and technology, we develop possible technical approaches.
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Step 4
Test prototypes
Selected approaches are turned into prototypes and tested and refined together with users.
Research with the community
The project brings lived expertise and professional expertise together. Involved are:
- people who use AAC
- family members, assistants and support professionals
- AAC professionals
- linguistic and cognitive research expertise
- Natural Language Processing and software development
From observation to prototype
Based on the research, the project develops and tests an AI-supported prototype exploring how AAC communication could connect to digital actions.
This is a research prototype, not an announcement of a finished Independo product.
Funded by
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FFG Expedition Zukunft Innovation
Selbst.Verständlich is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency under the Expedition Zukunft Innovation programme.
Further reading on our blog
One article on the start of the project, and one explaining what Augmentative and Alternative Communication actually is.
Published so far
Selbst.Verständlich runs until 2027. We will add findings, methods and materials here as soon as they are ready for publication.
More research at Independo
Every project has its own page, with the question behind it, how we work and what has been published so far.