Post ContentAlterEgo’s Silent Sense wearable detects faint muscle signals from internal speech to enable silent communication with devices and people. (Image Source: AlterEgo/MIT)
AlterEgo, a company incubated at the MIT Media Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed a new wearable device that makes communication appear almost like telepathy.
Researchers at the company recently demonstrated the new wearable, saying it can detect “silent speech,” interpret internal thoughts, and enable communication without any spoken words.
Dubbed “Silent Sense”, AlterEgo’s device can recognise several forms of speech, like normal speaking to silently mouthing words and even detect the faint muscle signals when someone intends to speak.
On its website, AlterEgo says its wearable offers a non-invasive “peripheral neural interface that allows humans to converse in natural language” with machines, AI assistants, services and other people without uttering a single word or opening their mouths.
This means tasks that previously required humans to speak – like conversation, live translation and controlling digital devices can now be completed silently without having to utter a single word.
The ability to silently control things also comes with a huge privacy benefit, as people won’t have to say sensitive things out loud in public. However, privacy concerns also arise as the device may interpret your private thoughts.
AlternEgo says the primary focus of the project is to help people with speech disorders like ALS and multiple sclerosis, but the device may also help bridge the gap between humans and computers.
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AlterEgo claims its wearable system works by capturing the “peripheral neural signals when internal speech articulators are volitionally and neurologically activated”. This helps the wearable transmit and receive streams of information from a computing device to another person without any visible action.
However, it cannot read your mind. This means when a person wearing AlterEgo’s wearable pauses and thinks something, the thought won’t be detected until they say something.
As of now, the device is not up for sale and still needs to pass several tests before it can enter the market.
