WVXU: Transgender and gender diverse people can struggle to sound like themselves. An app aims to help

Vesna D. Novak, PhD, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC, spoke with 91.7 WVXU for a news broadcast about her latest research on transgender and gender diverse communities.  

Novak coauthored a study which suggests that transgender and gender diverse people may benefit from better-designed smartphone apps that offer voice and communication training software that help lessen voice-gender incongruence for transgender individuals.  The study is available in the Journal of Voice and includes the results of a 57-question survey and interviews of 21 transgender and gender diverse individuals focusing on voice, technology app usage, surgery, voice training and gender expression and identity.

Tristan Vaught, an adjunct faculty member in the UC Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, also spoke with WVXU about use of smartphone apps among transgender and gender diverse communities.

Listen to the full WVXU interview online.

Learn more about Novak’s latest research online.

Featured image is courtesy of Unsplash.