Telepathy Machine? Here’s What MIT’s AlterEgo Wearable Actually Does

There’s a new cell phone in town and it looks like telepathy in action. It’s called AlterEgo, and its secret isn’t magic or mind reading.

Its makers say the hardware detects “silent speech,” including everything from the pronunciation of words to internal vocalization (think subtle internal movements).

This means that many tasks normally done with your voice could now be done silently, including conversations, live translation between languages ​​and controlling digital devices. The device itself is worn over your ears.

There is a privacy benefit to not having to express sensitive information in public, but there are also privacy concerns that naturally arise whenever a computer comes between two people who are communicating.

How it works

AlterEgo, a spinoff company from the original MIT Media Lab project of the same name, says the technology behind AlterEgo relies on what researchers call “silent speech,” a method of interpreting the subtle neuromuscular signals involved in speech before the words are spoken aloud.

But the AlterEgo system goes even further. Its creators developed a system called Silent Sense that allows the device to detect multiple forms of voice activity: from normal speech to silently spoken words or even faint muscle signals that appear when you intend to speak.

If this makes you pause and wonder if the device can read your thoughts, it can’t. Instead, it detects signals produced when a person deliberately engages their vocal system.

The future of accessibility?

AlterEgo has the potential to be one of the most exciting new wearable technologies in recent memory, but I still have many more questions. Will it be used as an accessibility tool like the implantable BCIs from Synchron and Neuralink? How does AlterEgo differentiate between intention to speak and actual thoughts? Could this technology be repurposed in some way to achieve the latter goal?

At the time of writing, AlterEgo had not responded to a request for comment. To see the highlights of the demo, watch the video in this article.