Wemogee
Samsung’s new Wemogee app is for people with language disorders. Google Play Store/Wemogee

Samsung has launched a new app that mainly targets people with communication disorders. The app, called Wemogee, serves as a simple tool that allows users to converse using ideograms and emojis.

The maker of the app, Samsung Electronics Italia, said Wemogee is good for talking through images. Hence, it is a useful tool for people with aphasia, a communication disorder that is marked by the loss of the ability to understand or express speech. The company added that the app is good for both long-distance chatting and for face-to-face interactions.

Aphasia is caused by damage to brain regions that are responsible for speaking and language comprehension. The disorder is most common among people who had a stroke. Other conditions that could lead to aphasia include brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic head injuries. The National Aphasia Association reports that around two million Americans have this disorder. Since people with aphasia communicate through drawings, Wemogee is a good app for them to use.

READ: Samsung to issue fix for Galaxy S8’s red screen problem

Wemogee has two modes: aphasic and non-aphasic. The former displays emojis and ideograms, while the latter shows standard text. The aphasic mode is for people with communication disorders, so they can easily express themselves through images. On the other hand, the non-aphasic mode translates the images to texts for people without the impairment.

Samsung designed Wemogee with a library of over 140 phrases that were made in collaboration with speech therapists. Thus, people with communication problems can engage in informal chat easily with the app. They simply need to choose the emoji sequence they want to send to the non-aphasic recipient from a panel of visual options.

Wemogee is already available on Google’s Play Store, and it currently supports English and Italian only. It is also slated for release on Apple’s App Store and Samsung’s Galaxy Apps in the near future.