AlterEgo- the mind boggling device

Can you imagine a world where you don’t have to speak anything and you get your answers just through your thoughts? Nowadays there is google assistant, amazon alexa which responds to your voice and makes your job easier. But what if you don’t need to speak too as researchers at MIT have designed a wearable device which will respond to your thoughts. The device is named- “Alterego”. It can basically read your mind through the “silent speech” system process. In this process we move our jaw and neck part to say a word internally but it is not audible to us or other person.

Working of the machine

The system communicates with user through the help of a pair of “bone-conducting headphones” by transmitting vibrations from the face to the ear. You will not be interrupted while your conversation or hearing task is going on.

The device circles around the user’s ear, touches their jawline and gets attached (pasted) under the Lip part on the jaw. The device has electrodes that pick up neuromuscular signals in your jaw area and face through the internal talks going in our mind that is through the movement of internal speech articulators. These electric signals are then transferred to machine learning system that analyses the data received and matching the signals with proper understandable words. The conversations that happen between our mind and the machine are private. Right now it is limited to answer your queries within the 20 words programmed into it but this is going to advance in the future updates.

Applications of AlterEgo

• ·         It can be used while playing chess or Chinese board game “go”.
  
• ·         It can be used for solving simple mathematical problems.
• ·         It can be used for asking query from google and getting our desired answers.
  
• ·         It can also be used for controlling what we watch on TV like the scrolling options and selecting a movie option.
  
• ·         It can be used to control “Internet of things” devices and also used as a language translator.
• ·         This device can be really helpful for people suffering from speech impairments.  

AlterEgo wants to combine the power of AI, computer and internet with the human mind. Alterego project is headed by Arnav Kapur, MIT graduate. The team plans to make the device more advanced so that it can be helpful for the disabled persons.  This device is currently not for sale as it is in the process of development.