About Us

The ModelTalker project is a collaborative effort between AgoraNet Inc. and the Nemours Speech Research Laboratory (SRL). Our current beta software is the product of a technology transfer grant from the NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH Grant Number R42 DC006193-03), with additional support from Nemours Biomedical Research.

AgoraNet, Inc. is a custom software and web development company located in Newark, Delaware. Established in 1996, we have been significantly involved with numerous assistive technology and multimedia development projects. In addition, our staff has expertise in the areas of augmentative communication, human-computer interfaces, natural language processing, and accessibility issues.

SRL is one of the laboratories within the Nemours Center for Pediatric Auditory and Speech Sciences (CPASS) at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. The SRL conducts research to develop, evaluate and refine speech analysis, synthesis, and recognition technology for children and others with speech and hearing disorders.

The current ModelTalker project team:

AgoraNet

• John Gray, primary software engineer and President of AgoraNet
• Bill Moyers, software developer
• Betsy Warren, customer support

Nemours

• H. Timothy Bunnell, Ph.D. , principal investigator, Director of CPASS and Head of SRL
• Jim Polikoff, laboratory coordinator and Senior research associate
• Chris Pennington, technical support
• Jason Lilley, graduate research assistant (also Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware).

If you are a clinician, researcher, or would like additional details about the speech research involved, please visit our partners at the SRL.