Summary

This new tech innovation deciphers brain signals when a person attempts to speak, converting them into text, which the computer then vocalizes.

A new brain-computer interface (BCI) developed at UC Davis Health can translate brain signals into speech with an impressive accuracy of up to 97%—claimed to be the highest accuracy ever achieved by such a system.

The researchers implanted sensors in the brain of a man with severe speech impairment caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Remarkably, he was able to communicate his thoughts within minutes of using the system.

This new tech innovation deciphers brain signals when a person attempts to speak, converting them into text, which the computer then vocalizes. The decoded words were displayed on a screen and impressively spoken aloud in a voice resembling Harrell’s own, as it sounded before his ALS diagnosis. This voice was synthesized using software that had been trained on audio recordings of his voice from before the onset of the disease.

“Our BCI technology helped a man with paralysis to communicate with friends, families and caregivers,” said David Brandman, UC Davis neurosurgeon and co-senior author of the study. “Our paper demonstrates the most accurate speech neuroprosthesis (device) ever reported.”

A study about this work was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Article text from Interesting Engineering.