Faculty of Design

Industrial Design

Jenny Chan

reframe with pulse°

How might a speech-support system help adults who stutter prepare for, practice, and reflect on high-pressure speaking situations while preserving autonomy, reducing cognitive load, and extending support beyond therapy and isolated correction?Solution. Reframe with Pulse° is a speech-support system for adults whose stutter increases in high-pressure situations. Many adults continue to live with residual speech difficulties, whether from limited access to support in childhood or after structured care, such as rehabilitation or school-based services, has ended. Reframe addresses this gap by turning a user’s own scripts, notes, and recordings into tailored learning modules through AI-assisted speech analysis, creating a more personal and low-pressure space for preparation and reflection at home. Pulse° extends this support through customizable vibrotactile pacing cues during practice. Together, they offer a more continuous and affordable approach to speech support for moments when communication matters most.Insight, idea, & impact. Interviews with adults who stutter and speech-language pathologists revealed a consistent insight: anxiety, fatigue, and pressure were repeatedly identified as factors that intensify stuttering. Yet these are often the very situations in which communication matters most: interviews, presentations, meetings, introductions, and relationship-building. Participants also described the emotional cost of being misunderstood, including the frustration of having others assume their intelligence or competence based on the way they speak.Existing solutions tend to address only one part of the problem. Some focus on altered auditory feedback or other corrective interventions, while apps rely on generic speech exercises or structured training that are disconnected from the user’s real communication contexts. Reframe differs by building support from the user’s own speech. Through AI-assisted analysis of personal scripts, notes, and recordings, it creates tailored learning modules for preparation and reflection. Pulse° extends this through customizable vibrotactile pacing cues inspired by metronome-based speech therapy strategies. Together, they offer a more continuous and personal support designed not to correct speech, but to help users feel confident in navigating moments when communication carries real social and professional consequences.

“Reframe your voice; shifting speech from pressure toward possibility.”