‘I Will Always Be Me’ is a first-of-its-kind book for people living with motor neurone disease (MND) that banks their voices as they read aloud. We speak to Dell, Intel and VLMLY&R about how they collaborated on the project for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA).
Motor neurone disease is a rare condition affecting the brain and nerves. Symptoms can include muscle weakness, twitches and slurred speech, and many with the illness lose their ability to communicate over time, relying on assistive technology as a result. However, these communications aids often rely on people with MND banking their voices in advance of their condition deteriorating.
Inspired by the insight that only 12% of people living with MND actually bank their voices, the brands behind ‘I Will Always Be Me’ wanted to find an accessible way to help people preserve their voices for their families. “Previously, it was a very difficult process,” says John Coyne, vice-president of brand, creative and media of the tech company Intel. “Banking your voice was time consuming, demanding people with MND to say up to 1,600 random phrases, which not only takes hours but can be very emotionally taxing too.”

Read more at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/03/09/the-making-i-will-always-be-me-banking-the-voices-people-with-motor-neurone-disease