Revolutionary Brain-Computer Interface Lets Man Who Lost His Voice to ALS Speak Again In Real Time
Researchers at UC Davis Health have developed a revolutionarybrain-computer interface for people with neurological diseases or injuries that have impaired their ability to speak, enabling them to communicate again in real time by translating brain waves into speech.
A new brain-computer interface (BCI) developed at UC Davis Health translates brain signals into speech with up to 97% accuracy - the most accurate system of its kind.
Casey Harrell, a climate activist with ALS, worked with Professor Sergey Stavisky and neurosurgeon Dr. David Brandman to implant the device into Harrell's head. Within minutes, Harrell was able to express his thoughts clearly to everyone in the room, using his own voice, which the team was able to reconstruct using artificial intelligence from past videos of Harrell speaking before he had ALS.
The new technology is being developed to restore communication for people who can't speak due to paralysis or neurological conditions like ALS. It can interpret brain signals when the user tries to speak and turns them into text that is spoken' aloud by the computer. The voice was composed using artificial intelligence (AI) trained with existing audio samples of his pre-ALS voice.
This breakthrough, while still in its investigational phase, is remarkable as it gives a voice back to the person who lost it through no fault of their own.
Our voice is part of what makes us who we are. Losing the ability to speak is devastating for people living with neurological conditions. This kind of technology could be transformative for people living with paralysis.
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