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Thinking Out Loud

Morgan Maher

Using a wearable device called The Audeo, a person sends nerve signals to their vocal cords without making a sound. These signals are picked up by a neckband and relayed wirelessly to a computer that converts them into words spoken by a computerised voice.

Michael Callahan, co-founder of Ambient and one of the developers of The Audeo, says effective use of the device requires "a level above thinking" and careful training.

The device has been used to let people control wheelchairs using their thoughts, or to assist those with speaking disabilities regain their ability to communicate

On February 26, 2008, one of the first "voiceless phonecalls" was demonstrated at the Texas Instruments Developer Conference in Dallas, Texas. This version can only recognize about 150 words and phrases, but Ambient hopes to release a version without a vocabulary limit by the end of this year.

Future plans for the device involve being able to connect to the Internet and share and retrieve information, just by "thinking" about it.

 

Image by Morgan Maher

4-17-08

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'effective use of the

Submitted by ada on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 14:46.

'effective use of the device requires "a level above thinking" and careful training'

 Maybe trying to master the use of one of these devices, could be a kind of useful practise or discipline.

Other Languages?

Submitted by N9 on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 15:01.
AMAZING! I don't understand how your vocal cords can transmit neurological information from the brain if you cannot speak, but COOL. This type of assistive technology would be especially helpful in education, but the question is would funding be provided for those who truly need it?

Also, I'm curious if this could be manipulated somehow to help with the understanding foreign languages - Example, let's say I speak German, could I "think" through my vocal cords and have that information transmitted to a device that would automatically translate my projected thoughts into...Chinese? WHOA!

Picture of <em>Morgan Maher</em>

translation

Submitted by Morgan Maher on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 16:02.

"thoughts into ...Chinese "

 

yeah that could probably work. If this thing gets linked to the Internet, then you could probably connect to Google Translate, which already currently exists, and ... bingo.