Scientists have developed a brain-computer interface that can translate thoughts about speech into spoken words in real time. The experimental device was tested on a 47-year-old woman with quadriplegia who hadn’t been able to speak for 18 years after a stroke. Doctors implanted the device in her brain during surgery as part of a clinical trial. The device converts the woman’s intent to speak into fluent sentences, with minimal delay between thoughts and computerized verbalization.
This development is seen as a major advance in the field of brain-computer interfaces for speech, with potential to help those unable to speak communicate more effectively. The system works by recording the woman’s brain activity using electrodes while she silently speaks sentences in her mind. An AI model translates the neural activity into sound units, creating a speech sound that the woman would have spoken before her injury.
The system, which resembles existing tools used for transcribing meetings or phone calls in real time, operates on a streaming approach, processing speech chunks on the fly instead of waiting for sentences to finish. This quick decoding has the potential to keep up with natural speech pace, making conversations more natural and fluid. While more research is needed before the technology is widely available, sustained investments could make it accessible to patients within a decade.
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