11/28/2016 Canabraincomputerinterfaceconvertyourthoughtstotext?

Recentresearchshowsbraintotextdevicecapableofdecodingspeechfrombrains

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Canabraincomputerinterfaceconvertyourthoughtstotext?
Recentresearchshowsbraintotextdevicecapableofdecodingspeechfrombrainsignals

Date: October25,2016

Source: Frontiers

Summary: Everwonderwhatitwouldbelikeifadevicecoulddecodeyourthoughtsintoactualspeechorwrittenwords?Whilethismightenhance
thecapabilitiesofalreadyexistingspeechinterfaceswithdevices,itcouldbeapotentialgamechangerforthosewithspeechpathologies,
andevenmoresofor"lockedin"patientswholackanyspeechormotorfunction.

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FULLSTORY

Everwonderwhatitwouldbelikeifadevicecoulddecodeyourthoughtsintoactualspeechorwrittenwords?Whilethis
mightenhancethecapabilitiesofalreadyexistingspeechinterfaceswithdevices,itcouldbeapotentialgamechanger
forthosewithspeechpathologies,andevenmoresofor"lockedin"patientswholackanyspeechormotorfunction.

"Soinsteadofsaying'Siri,whatistheweatherliketoday'or'OkGoogle,wherecanIgoforlunch?'Ijustimaginesayingthesethings,"explainsChristian
Herff,authorofareviewrecentlypublishedinthejournalFrontiersinHumanNeuroscience.

Whilereadingone'sthoughtsmightstillbelongtotherealmsofsciencefiction,scientistsarealreadydecodingspeechfromsignalsgeneratedinour
brainswhenwespeakorlistentospeech.

Intheirreview,Herffandcoauthor,Dr.TanjaSchultz,comparetheprosandconsofusingvariousbrainimagingtechniquestocaptureneuralsignals
fromthebrainandthendecodethemtotext.

ThetechnologiesincludefunctionalMRIandnearinfraredimagingthatcandetectneuralsignalsbasedonmetabolicactivityofneurons,tomethods
suchasEEGandmagnetoencephalography(MEG)thatcandetectelectromagneticactivityofneuronsrespondingtospeech.Onemethodinparticular,
calledelectrocorticographyorECoG,showedpromiseinHerff'sstudy.

ThisstudypresentstheBraintotextsysteminwhichepilepsypatientswhoalreadyhadelectrodegridsimplantedfortreatmentoftheircondition
participated.Theyreadouttextspresentedonascreeninfrontofthemwhiletheirbrainactivitywasrecorded.Thisformedthebasisofadatabaseof
patternsofneuralsignalsthatcouldnowbematchedtospeechelementsor"phones."

Whentheresearchersalsoincludedlanguageanddictionarymodelsintheiralgorithms,theywereabletodecodeneuralsignalstotextwithahigh
degreeofaccuracy."Forthefirsttime,wecouldshowthatbrainactivitycanbedecodedspecificallyenoughtouseASRtechnologyonbrainsignals,"
saysHerff."However,thecurrentneedforimplantedelectrodesrendersitfarfromusableindaytodaylife."

So,wheredoesthefieldgofromheretoafunctioningthoughtdetectiondevice?"Afirstmilestonewouldbetoactuallydecodeimaginedphrasesfrom
brainactivity,butalotoftechnicalissuesneedtobesolvedforthat,"concedesHerff.

Theirstudyresults,whileexciting,arestillonlyapreliminarysteptowardsthistypeofbraincomputerinterface.

StorySource:

MaterialsprovidedbyFrontiers.Note:Contentmaybeeditedforstyleandlength.

JournalReference:

1. ChristianHerff,TanjaSchultz.AutomaticSpeechRecognitionfromNeuralSignals:AFocusedReview.FrontiersinNeuroscience,201610
DOI:10.3389/fnins.2016.00429

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11/28/2016 Canabraincomputerinterfaceconvertyourthoughtstotext?Recentresearchshowsbraintotextdevicecapableofdecodingspeechfrombrains

Frontiers."Canabraincomputerinterfaceconvertyourthoughtstotext?Recentresearchshowsbraintotextdevicecapableofdecodingspeechfrom
brainsignals."ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily,25October2016.<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161025114035.htm>.

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11/28/2016 Canabraincomputerinterfaceconvertyourthoughtstotext?Recentresearchshowsbraintotextdevicecapableofdecodingspeechfrombrains

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