Was recently introduced to the topic of Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI). One of key applications of this technology is enabling the mute to speak. Opened a huge Pandora’s box for me, and will definitely be a topic I will return to time.

My informal explanation of BCI is, that it is a technology which understands signals from the brain, linking it with its corresponding action.

What happens technically is that brain signals with their corresponding actions are stored in a repository, and learning techniques are then applied to these signals. This will allow us to identify the signals and link them to the actions.

For instance, if a person wishes to enunciate the word “Hello”, a certain brain signal would be emitted from the brain. If a person who is mute wishes to speak the word “Hello”, he just needs to think of speaking the word. Then the BCI will understand this signal and generate the sound “Hello”, thus giving speech capabilities to the mute.

In fact, this technology is already in the market. Commercialized by Dr Philip Kennedy, he has started a company who specializes in giving speech to the stroke patients or automobile victims who have lost their sense of speech. In addition, they are able to allow people to control computer cursors with only their brains. This will undoubtedly improve the quality of the lives of many, many people.

Take a look at their website below:
www.neuralsignals.com

Here is an image of one of their patients using their system.