​⚡️ The Promise of VR for People Who Stutter

​Transcending Stuttering Workshop with Gareth Walkom

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​​🔤 Description

• ​What is virtual reality, and why is it important for the stuttering community?

• ​How is virtual reality impacting people who stutter right now?

• ​What are the promises that virtual reality will bring us?

​Practicing speaking situations is challenging. Especially in real life when listeners are unpredictable. So how do we improve this?

​We've all heard of virtual reality and its use for games. However, we know less about how virtual reality can benefit the stuttering community. And you'll be surprised about how accurately it can represent real-life speaking situations. Yet, the user remains in a safe environment.

​This workshop will cover absolutely everything you need to know about virtual reality, how you can take advantage of it, and the positive future that it holds.

​Agenda:

​The past and present of virtual reality The future of virtual reality, including a live demo of never seen before virtual reality content

​You will learn how to:

• ​Make sense and be at ease with virtual reality

• ​See the potential of virtual reality

• ​Try virtual reality for stuttering today

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​​🎤 Presenter

Gareth Walkom BSc(Hons) MSc MBCS is originally from Basingstoke in the UK and now resides in the beautiful city of Ghent in Belgium. Gareth is a proud person who stutters and leads the way in utilizing how people who stutter and speech pathologists can benefit by using virtual reality as a tool. Working on this topic since 2015, Gareth studied for a bachelor’s degree in Digital Media Technology at Nottingham Trent University, using knowledge from the degree to create a VR application to be used in stuttering. He further developed this application by studying for a master’s degree in Medical Product Design, specializing in combining eye-tracking with VR. The new and improved application could measure eye behaviors such as blinks, eye closures, and fixations. The results indicated that VR could decrease anxiety levels and measure stuttering behaviors, such as those of the eyes. His research has shown that VR has enormous potential to be used as a tool in stuttering, where people who stutter can practice speaking in a safe, controllable place. Since then, Gareth’s work has been featured on the BBC, Independent, Guardian, various TV shows, and podcasts. In Gareth’s spare time, he enjoys attending and speaking at conferences, Belgian beer, and playing unicycle hockey.

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​⚡️ Workshop hosted by Transcending Stuttering

​​Think of it like a “campfire conversation” with leaders offering insights and practical take-aways.

• ​​What

  • ​​Learn more about special topics and how to apply new ideas to life

    • ​​Learn from leading presenters (guests)

    • ​​Try-out practical applications and exercises for yourself

    • ​​Ask questions for deeper understanding

• ​​Who

  • ​​[ ✅ Teens ]

  • ​​[ ✅ Adults ]

  • ​​[ ✅ Parents]

  • ​​[ ✅ Clinicians ]

• ​​Format

  • ​​[🎤 Presentation] + [ 🙋🏽 Interactive Q&A]

  • ​​Workshops include ~40min presentation followed by ~15min Q&A

​​🎟  Registration required 👈

​​Live event via Zoom. Recorded for playback.

​​When you register, you will receive email with Zoom details before the event and playback recording after the event.