Dell Technologies and Intel have a strong partnership, propelled by the shared belief in the power of technology to drive humanity forward. Both companies have a long-standing relationship with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) to create technology solutions for people living with motor neurone disease (MND). MND is a neurodegenerative condition that deteriorates nerve cells that control muscles and ultimately takes away a person’s ability to speak. Even though voice banking technology is available, only about 12% of people with MND in the UK have banked their voices. Dell Technologies and Intel came to us with a brief to find a way to get more people living with MND to bank their voices.

"I Will Always Be Me" is the world’s first voice banking book. We worked with New York Times bestselling author Jill Twiss and artist Nicholas Stevenson to create a story that people with MND can read to their loved ones to share what they are going through. As they read, the system seamlessly banks their voice. All the syllables needed to create an accurate copy of their voice are contained in the story, and the emotions captured in the session create a higher-quality version of their digital voice. We’re turning the cold, solitary process of voice banking into an experience that’s full of life — encouraging more people with MND to bank their voices early.

When MND takes away all your abilities, your voice becomes the only means to express yourself. While realizing that our voices are our identity, denial prevents newly diagnosed people from considering a future without their voices. Yet time is of the essence for people with MND. Therefore, we set out to turn voice banking into one of the first things they’d want to do and elevate the voice banking experience from its current solitary, clinical environment to an inclusive and empowering one.

We partnered with bestselling author Jill Twiss and artist Nicholas Stevenson to create a book that gently explains what it truly means to live with MND. The text itself contains all the sounds and syllables necessary to accurately bank a voice in less than 30 minutes.

Once the book was finished, we created the site to host the story. iwillalwaysbeme.com is the first voice banking platform that allows users to bank their voice regardless of their browser or device. We adapted every page of the book so it could be read online and on any screen. Every illustration was animated, and every paragraph was placed accordingly to enrich the experience and help readers bank their voice.

Throughout every step of the development, we consulted with voice banking, speech, medical, and accessibility experts and tested the experience with people living with MND.

"I Will Always Be Me" was created with the goal of making voice banking more accessible to people living with MND, reducing the time between diagnosis and voice banking, and increasing the overall voice banking rate. Today, “I Will Always Be Me” is one of the leading voice banking methods in the UK. The voice banking rate increased by 50% shortly after the book was launched. And with help from the MNDA, the project is planning to expand to Ireland, Australia, the USA, and other countries. The book turned the cold, solitary process of voice banking into an experience that’s full of life — encouraging more people with MND to bank their voices early.