The Voiceless Voice Call
We all take the fact that we can communicate with our voice for granted. That is if you have not lost the ability. New Scientist is reporting this week that there may be hope for those that that have.
The system is called “Audeo” and uses nerve signals sent to the vocal cords, a neck band picks up these signals and sends them to a computer which then synthesizes them into the spoken word. The system was demonstrated in a voiceless phone call for the first time at a recent conference held by chip manufacturer Texas Instruments.
The nerve signals sent to the device are quite different to the thoughts that we often “hear” in our heads. Producing a signal for the Audeo to use requires a signal that is “above thinking”. So there is no chance that our thoughts will be heard by others, that is probably a good thing!
The system is currently capable of a vocabulary of about 150 words. However the vision is to create a system that has not limit. It is hoped that this technology will be capable of helping people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and similar disease processes in which the ability to speak is destroyed by disease process. I can also see the possibility for other situations as well, gone are the days of listening to everyones mobile calls on the train.
It is very early days for the technology and it is in it’s infancy, but then so was (and still is to some degree) voice recognition. But we have seen that mature into devices such as mobile phones and computers. Already we have seen the control of games using EKG or “brain activity”. This is exciting stuff both as a technology and as a medical device to help a lot of people speak again.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
This is such a cool technology though, as you mentioned, still definitely in the very early stages. What struk me about this was the medical applications not only for ALS patients, but others like Steven Hawking who still possess the mind and the skill to express themselves, but require a mechanical aid for them to be understood.
I love this story, it will be very exciting to watch its development from both a social and technological perspective in the coming years.
March 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Great! We still need one more thing as geeks. Artificial way of receiving some visual input from the machine. Our sight is probably the most important thing ever in our lives. Just think how many people could be brought back to normal, working lives just by giving them if not full artificial sight but just some eye interface to work with a computer.