Find out more about Rob Burrow’s voice
Rugby League legend Rob Burrow’s voice has been heard in millions of homes across the UK and around the world, in his mission to raise awareness and help find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease (MND). In 2022, Rob became one of the first people to use assistive technology to read BBC Bedtime Stories, and the first person using AAC to win an award as part of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year event. Upon receiving his award, Rob gave a speech using eye gaze technology and a Grid Pad, alongside ex-team mate Kevin Sinfield. Rob paid tribute to Doddie Weir, who also campaigned for awareness and funding into MND research after living with MND for six years before passing away in 2022. Rob shared more of his story of having MND the BBC documentary, Rob Burrow: Living with MND, which has also been shortlisted for the National Television Awards. Rob shared the ‘Tilda Tries Again’ story during his CBeebies Bedtime Stories debut, a book about children coping with difficult situations. Rob used speech generating technology on his Grid Pad communication device. Rob controls this powerful specialist computer using eye tracking. By looking and selecting words and letters on the screen of his device, a camera detects Rob’s gaze and prompts that specific area to be selected – like clicking a mouse. The Grid Pad device Rob uses not only creates speech, with Rob’s personalised voice, but can be used to post on social media, read and respond to emails, and access technology around the home, controlled using his eyes. Rob has kept the voice his family and fans are familiar with through the use of voice banking. This technology, provided by SpeakUnique, is designed for people with disabilities which affect their ability to communicate vocally. Individuals can record segments of themselves talking, or use video clips and voice recordings, which are then turned into an AI-generated synthetic voice. For anyone who, like Rob, is living with MND in the UK the MNDA will fund your voice banking. We have also teamed up with SpeakUnique to produce a selection of 30 brand new regional voices for the UK and Ireland. These new accents are available in Grid and Grid for iPad. Around 1 in 200 people could benefit from technology to communicate. Our solutions are used by thousands of people around the world to participate, access media and apps, and communicate. If you would like to find out more, or trial a device, we are here to help.