The Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) are neural implants that can be placed inside or outside the brain. Here they can read the electrical activity of the brain, which is then forwarded to another device.
This could be a robotic hand, for example, or, as in these cases, a speech synthesizer that helps patients speak again.
The fact that two teams of researchers independently successfully developed a BCI that helps patients speak more or less fluently represents a major leap in research.
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“These two pieces of work are exciting because they are two independent data points, both representing major advances in the accuracy and generality of the language of [BCI] show,” Francis Willett, the first author of the Stanford-led study, told inverse.
“Thanks to these new studies, it’s now possible to envision a future where we can restore fluent conversations to a paralyzed person, allowing them to freely say whatever they want, with an accuracy high enough to be understood.” to become.”
However, the technology is not yet perfect. The participants in the study can indeed communicate, but still relatively limited. Nevertheless, a conversation is possible.
The Study by Stanford researchers has an error rate of around 24 percent in a 125,000-word vocabulary. The device of University of California has an error rate of around 25 percent and the participant can communicate at around 78 words per minute.
The San Francisco team created a digital avatar that can display nine different facial expressions based on brain analysis.
Despite the promising technology, brain-computer interfaces are still in their infancy. The researchers want to further develop the devices in the future in order to get more information from the brain and, among other things, enable fluent speech.
“At the moment we misunderstand every fourth word. I hope that next time we might misunderstand every tenth word,” Willett said.
“I think one avenue we’d like to explore is using more electrodes. We need more information from the brain, we need a clearer picture of what is happening.”
Recent advances in the development of BCI open the doors to an exciting future where paralyzed people could regain their language skills. Despite the promising results, there is still much work to be done. However, the path is clear, and teams of researchers around the world are working to refine the technology and improve people’s lives.