A middle ground between careful typing and dictation
Typing carefully on mobile takes attention, and autocorrect can still choose the wrong word. Constantly checking the text or stopping to repair mistakes can be frustrating and interrupt what you want to say.
Dictation offers another route, but speaking aloud takes energy and effort. You may be tired, want to avoid disturbing others, or prefer privacy and not having your message overheard. Even when you are alone, you may simply not feel like speaking an entire message.
If you’ve chosen to type quietly, speaking aloud just to correct a word can work against that choice. A faint whisper offers a quieter possibility, but reliable whisper dictation can depend on having the microphone close to your mouth. Without a headset mic, that may mean bringing the phone closer instead of keeping it at a comfortable typing distance.
LipConfirm explores a middle ground: type as you usually do at normal typing distance, but let faint, barely audible articulation support autocorrect. It is designed to use the phone’s built-in microphone, without requiring earbuds, an external microphone, or holding the phone up to your mouth. A faint cue can accompany words as you type, or help correct an individual word afterward.
If you have ever faintly articulated words while reading to yourself or working through instructions, the action may already feel familiar. LipConfirm’s founding idea grew from that observation and a personal frustration with autocorrect. You already know the word you intend; your typing and faint articulation can express it together, in your own rhythm.
The key technical distinction is that the whisper need not be reliably transcribable by itself at normal typing distance. Your typing already narrows the possibilities. Combined with your text, even incomplete acoustic clues can help distinguish the intended word. The goal is more forgiving typing: less pressure to hit every key perfectly, fewer interruptions to repair text, and more attention left for what you want to say.
You don’t have to whisper throughout your message. For a requested correction, select the word and quietly articulate what you intended, with the phone still at normal typing distance. LipConfirm is designed to combine that new cue with the text you originally typed, rather than relying only on autocorrect’s replacement. Alternatively, you can accompany your typing with faint articulation, still at normal typing distance, to help preempt autocorrect errors and the frustration of stopping to fix them.
Very faint whispers can be less audible to people nearby, helping you correct text more discreetly without speaking up.
LipConfirm also supports completely silent lip movements as an alternative signal. Whisper assistance uses the microphone and does not require a camera. Optional silent lip assistance uses a brief, requested camera capture to follow mouth movements.
Desktop prototypes are available for both whisper-assisted and silent lip-assisted correction, with live demonstrations on request.