What?

Xalts is a free, open source, picture exchange mode of communication that adds speech to visual language samples. Picture exchange (PECS) uses images to facilitate communication for individuals with expressive language deficits. Xalts is appropriate for those on the autistic spectrum and useful for learning a foreign language or dubbing film. Visual language samples can be comprised of any icons, symbols, photos, text or video. Xalts will associate the sample with whatever spoken definition you assign and then add it to our library. Users can store their vocabularies on a free web based account or download it to a personal device. Best of all you can share your vocabulary with others no matter what device they are using. Xalts’ open structure invites everyone to create, contribute and share. In short, we want to eliminate costs and wildly expand the PECS dictionary.

The universal web app can work on any device (EXT.JS, Sencha touch API) and draws its VLS from an open ‘library’ database. VLS’s can be saved on the user’s device or stored in a free account at Xalts. As a final step we plan to create a communication gateway that will allow VLS ‘tele’ conversations.