Asterics-AAC
# Asterics AAC  Create **grid-based user interfaces** that are **flexible and fully accessible**. Use it for: * **Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)**: very simple to highly complex communication boards * **Media access**: browse and play YouTube, web radios, podcasts * **Smart Home control**: operate devices directly or integrate with platforms like [openHAB](https://www.openhab.org/) or [HomeAssistant](https://www.home-assistant.io/) **Accessible to everyone**: can be operated via **mouse click, touch, keyboard, single switch, or eye gaze** — adaptable to any user's abilities. ## Features * **Cross-platform**: works on PC, smartphone, and tablet across Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS * **No installation required**, just open [grid.asterics.eu](https://grid.asterics.eu/) in the browser (or install it to your desktop or home screen) * **Offline capable**: works without an internet connection * Optional **cloud sync**: synchronize your configuration across devices (with **end-to-end encryption**) * **Customizable grid system**: flexible layouts tailored to any use case * **Wide range of input methods**: click, touch, hover, scanning, keyboard, switches — or advanced methods like eye tracking, head tracking, or EMG muscle sensors (via the [AsTeRICS Framework](https://www.asterics.eu/get-started/Overview.html)) ### AAC-related features * **Text-to-speech** in multiple languages (depending on the device) * **Multilingual support**: build communicators that support different languages * Integrated search for **free AAC symbols** from [ARASAAC](https://arasaac.org/) and [Open Symbols](https://www.opensymbols.org/) * **Word forms**: enable automatic inflections (e.g. conjugations, plurals) * **Customizable keyboards** with **word prediction** and **self-learning dictionaries** * **Global grid**: define elements that appear across all pages (e.g. for core vocabulary) * **Progressive language**: design communicators for various language development levels * **Share created sentences** with any other app (e.g. WhatsApp) * **Built-in messenger**: chat within the app using text, emojis, or pictograms – powered by [Matrix](https://matrix.org/) ### Smart Home and media access * **Smart Home control**: directly via HTTP actions or connect with [openHAB](https://www.openhab.org/) or [HomeAssistant](https://www.home-assistant.io/) * **Live elements**: display status of the app or external devices * **Web radio**: play any radio station - powered by [radio-browser.info](http://www.radio-browser.info/gui/#!/) * **Podcasts**: listen to any podcast - powered by [podcastindex.org]() * **YouTube access**: search and play videos directly within the app ## Where to Use It There are three online versions of Asterics AAC: * https://grid.asterics.eu/ current stable release * https://grid.asterics.eu/latest/ current testing (beta) release, possibly unstable * http://grid.asterics-foundation.org/ non-https version, but otherwise exactly the same app as https://grid.asterics.eu/ - may be used in cases where interaction with local resources (e.g. HTTP action) is needed and [browsers are refusing it because of mixed content](https://github.com/asterics/Asterics-AAC/discussions/410). ## Documentation See [User documentation](docs/documentation_user/README.md) or [Asterics AAC Playlist on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0UXHkT03dGrIHldlEKR0ZWfNMkShuTNz). Also see [Developer documentation (not finished, maybe outdated)](docs/documentation_dev/README.md) and the [Collaboration guide](docs/documentation_dev/collaboration.md). ## Run project locally 1. clone the project `git clone [email protected]:asterics/Asterics-AAC.git` 2. install node.js https://nodejs.org/ 3. install yarn, see https://yarnpkg.com/ 4. go to the directory of the cloned project and run `yarn install` 5. run `npm run start` and open http://localhost:9095 ## Npm scripts After `yarn install` the following commands are available: 1. `npm run start` --> starts a webserver serving the Asterics AAC on `http://localhost:9095`, does hot reloading if js-sources change. 2. `npm run build` --> builds the js-files in folder `src` to `app/build` folder. 3. `npm run start-auth` --> runs [couch-auth](https://github.com/perfood/couch-auth) locally and makes it possible to create "online users" within the locally running application. A local [CouchDb](https://couchdb.apache.org/) instance is necessary in order to work. 4. `npm run release` -> releases the current version with a new tag and push it to `gh-pages` branch in order to be served at https://grid.asterics.eu/ 5. `npm run release-latest` -> same as `npm run release` but with destination https://grid.asterics.eu/latest/ 5. `npm run test` -> runs tests of the project using [Jest](https://jestjs.io/). ## Support us While development is currently funded within research projects (see below), the non-profit [AsTeRICS Foundation](https://www.asterics-foundation.org/) pays for the running server costs. If you want to contribute to these costs, you're very welcome to donate: <div> <a title="Donate with PayPal" href="https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=38AJJNS427MJ2" target="_blank" style="margin-right:3em"> <img src="https://github.com/asterics/Asterics-AAC/raw/master/app/img/donate-paypal.png" width=300/></a> <span> </span> <a title="Donate at opencollective.com" href="https://opencollective.com/asterics-foundation/projects/asterics-grid" target="_blank"> <img src="https://github.com/asterics/Asterics-AAC/raw/master/app/img/donate-open-collective.png" width=300/></a> </div> ## Acknowledgements and Attribution Asterics AAC was developed within several funded projects: * **2018-2019:** project [Toolbox for Rapid Design of Smart Homes and Assistive Technologies (ToRaDes)](https://embsys.technikum-wien.at/projects/torades/index.php) at the [UAS Technikum Wien](https://www.technikum-wien.at/), funded by the [City of Vienna](https://www.wien.gv.at/kontakte/ma23/index.html), Project 18-04 * **2019-2023:** project [Knowledge Hub for Accessible Technologies (WBT)](https://embsys.technikum-wien.at/projects/khat/index.php) at the [UAS Technikum Wien](https://www.technikum-wien.at/), funded by the [City of Vienna](https://www.wien.gv.at/kontakte/ma23/index.html), Project 26-02 * **2022-2025:** project [Inclusion International (In2)](https://www.technikum-wien.at/forschungsprojekte/inclusion-international/) at the [UAS Technikum Wien](https://www.technikum-wien.at/), funded by the [City of Vienna](https://www.wien.gv.at/kontakte/ma23/index.html), Project 33-02 * **2024-2025:** [netidee project funding for Asterics AAC](https://www.netidee.at/asterics-grid), Call 18 * **2024-2028:** project [Inclusion via digital augmentative and alternative communication (InDiKo)](https://www.technikum-wien.at/forschungsprojekte/indiko/) at the [UAS Technikum Wien](https://www.technikum-wien.at/), funded by the [City of Vienna](https://www.wien.gv.at/kontakte/ma23/index.html), Project 38-09 <img src="https://github.com/asterics/Asterics-AAC/assets/2537025/290d809f-1ccf-4362-be68-f07ff0e21878" width="400"/> <br/><br/> <img src="https://github.com/asterics/Asterics-AAC/raw/master/app/img/netidee.svg" width="250"/> <br/><br/> Other people and organizations we want to thank: * Thanks to [ARASAAC](https://arasaac.org/) for collaborating and providing their pictogram API * Thanks to [crowdin.com](https://crowdin.com/project/asterics-grid) for providing a free open source license * Thanks to [browserstack.com](https://browserstack.com/) for providing us free UI tests on their platform. * Thanks to Alex Segler for the great Webradio API [radio-browser.info](http://www.radio-browser.info/) which makes it possible to search and play webradios within Asterics AAC * Thanks to [podcastindex.org](https://podcastindex.org/) for a great global listing of podcasts and episodes * Thanks to the makers of the API from [opensymbols.org](https://www.opensymbols.org/) which makes it possible to search for open AAC symbols within Asterics AAC * Thanks to ResponsiveVoice for providing an free non-commercial version, <a href="https://responsivevoice.org">ResponsiveVoice-NonCommercial</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"><img title="ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech" src="https://responsivevoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/95x15.png" alt="95x15" width="95" height="15" /></a> * Thanks to [open-meteo.com](https://open-meteo.com/), which provides free weather data, which can be displayed within Asterics AAC * Thanks to Titus Nemeth and Martin Tiefenthaler, who developed the [Prima school font](https://prima.wien/) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) on behalf of the [Wiener Bildungsserver](https://bildungsserver.wien/). The font is used in the app. * Thanks to Titus Nemeth and Martin Tiefenthaler, who created the [Prima font for schools](https://prima.wien/) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) which is used in the app * Thanks to all the developers of these projects, which are all used by Asterics AAC in production: * [couch-auth](https://github.com/perfood/couch-auth) * [file-saver](https://www.npmjs.com/package/file-saver) * [hls.js](https://github.com/video-dev/hls.js/) * [html-to-image](https://github.com/bubkoo/html-to-image) * [interactjs](https://interactjs.io/) * [jspdf](https://github.com/parallax/jsPDF) * [jszip](https://stuk.github.io/jszip/) * [matrix-js-sdk](https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-js-sdk) * [n-ary-huffman](https://github.com/lydell/n-ary-huffman) * [navigo](https://github.com/krasimir/navigo) * [n-ary-huffman](https://github.com/lydell/n-ary-huffman) * [Object Model](https://objectmodel.js.org/) * [PouchDB](https://pouchdb.com/) * [predictionary](https://github.com/asterics/predictionary) * [Stanford Javascript Crypto Library (SJCL)](https://crypto.stanford.edu/sjcl/) * [superlogin-client](https://www.npmjs.com/package/superlogin-client) * [Vue.js](https://vuejs.org/) * [vue-i18n](https://vue-i18n.intlify.dev/) * [vue-multiselect](https://vue-multiselect.js.org/) * [Workbox](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/workbox) * [Bootstrap](https://getbootstrap.com/) * [fontawesome](https://fontawesome.com/) * [dom-i18n](https://github.com/ruyadorno/dom-i18n) * [jQuery](https://jquery.com/) * [jQuery context menu](https://swisnl.github.io/jQuery-contextMenu/) * [jQuery UI](https://jqueryui.com/) * [loglevel](https://github.com/pimterry/loglevel) ## License Asterics AAC and its source code are licensed under the [AGPL-3.0](./LICENSE). All documentation and non-source code in this repository are licensed under the [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en).