MIT develops a system that reads "internal words" muttering in the head from the muscles of the face and can talk

In addition to the words that are emitted to the outside by human beings, words that exist only in their own brain (or mind) and used as tools of thinking "Inner word"I have. Although this inner language is not transmitted at all other than myself, in the research laboratory "MIT Media Lab" at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the fine electrical signals of the face and jaw muscles are read and artificial intelligence (AI The research and development of the device which can read the contents of the inner language and can emit it as voice can be progressed by analyzing it in the same way.

Computer system transcribes words users "speak silently" | MIT News
http://news.mit.edu/2018/computer-system-transcribes-words-users-speak-silently-0404

The device which can read the inner word is designed to be worn along the line of the jaw from the ear as shown in the picture below. Four electrodes are built in the part under the lip and in contact with the chin, so that it is possible to detect the fine movement of the muscles occurring when human beings say internal words with electric signals. Although the movement of this muscle is invisible to the human eye at all, by analyzing the electric signal by AI which made machine learning, it seems that if it is a simple word it can reach a level which can be deciphered.


This device also serves as a bone conduction headset. The sound sent from the outside is converted into vibration by the transducer, so that the inner ear can be directly vibrated via the skull so that the sound can be heard. In other words, this device converts the words spoken in the human heart with four electrodes instead of a microphone, and delivers the words returned from the other person to the ear by bone conduction instead of the speaker, so that the conversation It is a device that enables communication by.

Arnav Kapur, who is developing a real photograph model, said, "It was an idea to motivate the idea of ​​creating an" intelligent expansion device "." This research started from the idea that "Computer-based analysis technology allows us to create a device that integrates human consciousness and computer into one and internally expands our cognition?"

Studies have been proceeding from the 1950s on the fact that the inner language appears in the movement of human muscles, and it has become a major attention in the rapid surgery that widespread in 1960. In fast reading, one goal is to eliminate "sub-bo calligraphy" which reads out the characters in the mind in the mind, and the influence is manifested in fine movement of the facial muscles .

However, attempts to utilize the movement of this muscle as a computer interface have been hardly advanced. The research team of Kapur and his colleagues began researching using a headset with a total of 16 electrodes and finally got to the point where it is possible to take useful data with four electrodes.


Initially, verification using words of about 20 words was advanced. It is said that the examiner has improved the precision by advancing experiments that the subject reads additions and multiplication read aloud in the head, then crushing the movements of chess pieces in the mind and reading it. And with the latest technology, it is said that the subject succeeded in decoding the word thought in the head with an accuracy of 92%. However, Mr. Kapur aims to raise the accuracy by further deepening learning in the future, to enhance the ability to the level which does not interfere with everyday conversation.

When this equipment is put into practical use, it is possible to talk with one's mind just in the head even in places with high noise such as airports and factories, and also to utilize it as a means of communication at the time of carrying out a military strategy that is not allowed to make noise It is likely to be expected. In addition, it seems that you can expect to be able to do online chat without making voice chat as a familiar use scene or use it as a communication support tool for people with disabilities.