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.
