A device that reads words “in your head”

A research team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently got techies and tech pundits talking over a new head-mountable prototype computer interface device that can pick up facial neuromuscular signals that are typically triggered by internal verbalizations.

Named “AlterEgo,” the device, as its developers describe it, “can transcribe words that the user internally verbalizes but does not actually speak aloud.” This means that it can ‘read’ words which one says in one’s head.

The device accomplishes its ‘mind reading’ functions with a machine-learning system that correlates specific signals with particular words. It picks up neuromuscular signals in the face and jaw through built-in electrodes and also works with headphones made with bone-conduction components for silent audio playback.

Currently on its prototype phase, the device runs by a premise wherein a user operates a computer system by saying words in one’s head. Documentation on tests with 10 subjects indicates a 92 percent accuracy rating once the device is calibrated to a wearer’s neurophysiology.

The practical real-world application of “AlterEgo” has raised speculations on how it could change the overall human-device interface – particularly where electronic communication and people with disabilities are concerned.

It has also sparked interest in its application to current technology as a “silent” alternative input option for smartphones, alongside its potentially beneficial use in high-noise environments like manufacturing plants and factories.

A simultaneous imaging and energy harvesting sensor

A prototype sensor that can power itself and capture images was recently presented by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The prototype – which is billed a “simultaneous imaging and energy harvesting” sensor – was developed to be fully self-powering when under sunlight and can capture images at a 15 frames per second rate.

The sensor measures less than one square millimeter.

Presented in the April 2018 edition of IEEE Electron Device Letters journal, the prototype is noted to be not at its most optimized levels – which means that it can operate at higher frame rates if fine-tuned.

Though the device’s size and self-powering state is undoubtedly impressive, a number of tech journalists have come to associate its development with growing concerns pertaining to privacy and security.

The device, after all, is a near-invisible camera that can operate forever, if not for an extended period of time.