An Internal Computing Platform to Bind Both Man and Machine : Researchers at MIT have developed a specialised headset that can read your thoughts.
Telepathy might sound like a superpower, but this device is making that power a reality.
By using silent speech, or the thoughts inside your head, the device can communicate with you by thought, a sort of new found telepathic Siri or Alexa.
The wearable device has been titled AlterEgo, and attaches to your jaw and face where electrodes can pick up essential neuromuscular triggers that come from thinking. These signals are not detectable from an external perspective, but the device knows how to connect to your thoughts and understand commands without being outwardly told them.
By using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and without externally observing movements, this innovation stands as something that could be completely revolutionary. Human to computer interaction is standing at a current 92% success rate through AlterEgo, and it remains in its early stages of manufacture.
AlterEgo can even speak back to you, by using a bone conduction that regulates like normal eye buds or headphones. Which in theory could have positive implications for the elderly or those suffering with loneliness.
This also means life could be all the easy, as you are able to ask questions, such as the time, the weather or directions and AlterEgo will even work out the cost of your shopping as you add items to your basket.
The device has the ability to perform thoughts before you’ve completely decided if you’re actually going to do them. By connecting with smart devices it can change a television channel for you or select films you are thinking of by scrolling down selections if you think the word ‘down’.
The idea behind the device is to have an internal computing platform that can bind both man and machine to feel as if an extensions of our own cognitive functions, ability and behaviour.
It may sound a little sci-fi infused but this could be a very real aspect of modern life sooner than you might think, and while still in the prototype stages, the AlterEgo has bigger implications than helping you when you can’t find the remote.
As developments are ongoing, the device is thought to have huge potential for the military, as theoretically soldiers could communicate with one another silently for safer ahead planning in crucial situations.
There are also huge benefits in the health sector, if a patient has lost their ability to speak or had some form of surgery on their jaw, then AlterEgo could be coupled with a form of synthesiser, allowing a person to speak the thoughts in their head as anyone with the ability to talk may do.
AlterEgo could also help people who suffer from anxiety related ailments and offer relief in stressful situations such as travelling on busy public transport.
Currently the prototype isn’t the most flattering of devices, but in a bid to combine human and computer, it is certainly pioneering the mode of a man to machine revolution.
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