PITCH & PEOPLE Folge 22: Sari-App
What happens when artificial intelligence not only optimizes processes but transforms existential life reality? When it doesn’t increase efficiency, but enables participation? In the Pitch & People videocast, Jens Wehrmann talks about a project that addresses exactly where technology becomes profoundly human: the ability to speak.
Together with his longtime friend Jochen Schwarzmann, Jens Wehrmann developed the Sari app. An application that supports people diagnosed with ALS to communicate faster and more naturally. The idea emerged not from a business plan, but from a personal story.
Two friends and a radical idea
Wehrmann and Schwarzmann have known each other for over 25 years. Together they produce the podcast Digitacheles AI, in which they have been discussing, philosophizing, and experimenting with artificial intelligence for five years. From these experiments came an idea that goes far beyond tech tinkering: giving people who can no longer speak their communication abilities back. Jens Wehrmann, founder of Mobile Software AG explains in the Pitch & People videocast:
“We took all these features that are possible with AI today and combined them into one app, and we said, that’s actually exactly what a patient needs.”
ALS: when the body falls silent, but the mind remains clear
ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative nerve disease. The nerves can no longer control the muscles, and muscle tissue degenerates. People gradually lose the ability to control their body, including speech articulation. However, the psyche and cognitive abilities remain unaffected. The mind is clear. The thoughts are there. Only the body no longer cooperates.
Around 10,000 people in Germany live with ALS. Life expectancy after diagnosis is usually three to five years. There is currently no cure or effective treatment options.
From Stephen Hawking to AI-powered communication
When it comes to ALS, one name almost always comes up: Stephen Hawking. He was the most prominent representative of this disease. At the same time, he was an exception. While life expectancy is usually only a few years, Hawking had a rare form of the disease with significantly higher life expectancy. Jochen Schwarzmann also has this rare course of the disease.
Technologically, Hawking was ahead of his time. Nevertheless, communication was extremely laborious for him. For each input, he needed about one second by focusing his eyes on a letter and holding still. Character by character, he put words together. A normal sentence took a long time. A spontaneous conversation at everyday speed was hardly possible.
This is exactly where Sari comes in. Not at the fundamental possibility of communicating, but at speed, naturalness, and dialogue capability.
From letters to intentions
Today’s standard for communication aids are devices with eye-tracking control, where letters are selected one by one. This is an enormous step forward and an important lifeline in everyday life. But it remains slow.
Sari goes a step further. The app listens in on conversations, understands the context, and makes predictions about what the user wants to say next. Currently, the system suggests five complete sentences to choose from using eye control. Wehrmann adds:
“Basically, we use technology to create a shortcut so that people affected don’t have to laboriously select each individual letter with their eyes.”
The app was developed in around eight months and is now live. It was not developed classically with a large team, but with the help of AI systems. A setback was part of it. An almost finished version worked in the browser but was not stable on the iPad. The consequence: discard everything, start over, use a different programming language. A step that would be hardly conceivable in classical projects. In this case, it cost only a few days. For Wehrmann, this is more than a technical insight. It is a change in perspective in dealing with innovation.
A moment that says it all
How does a person with ALS react when using the app for the first time and can suddenly participate in a conversation again?
“The first reaction I witnessed was laughter. Just laughter. A deep, inner laughter. A mixture of joy, disbelief, and emotion.”
Currently, Sari is a complete pro bono project. Around 100 people use the app in its early stage. Many test it, provide feedback, and bring new perspectives. Communication with neurologists, ALS clinics, and other actors in the disease environment is close. A classical business model does not yet exist. The focus is on function and impact.
Wehrmann and Schwarzmann were awarded the Hertie Prize for Engagement and Self-Help for their commitment.
