They say words are magic. Yes, sometimes I too feel that. One word can bring smile on someone’s face, or it can also make sad. So, while speaking or arguing we should always be careful about our words and what we speak. Why I am saying this because sometimes when we are angry, we speak out whatever we want to tell another person. But how it will feel if we speak without opening our mouth. You might be confused, but there is a technology using which we can speak without opening the mouth and the technology is ‘Subvocal recognition’.
The biggest change in Human-Computer interaction over the past few years is the rise of voice assistants and Subvocal recognition is an addition to it.
Subvocal recognition is the process of taking subvocalisation and converting the detected results to a digital output, aural or text based.
The technology analysis the nerve signals reaching vocal cords while a user is thinking about a message before voicing it out. This creates the opportunity for interfaces that allow silent, hands-free communication using the vocal apparatus.
A set of electrodes are attached to the skin of the throat and, without opening the mouth or uttering a sound, the words are recognised by a computer.
Subvocal speech recognition deals with electromyograms that are different for each speaker. Therefore, consistency can be thrown off just by the positioning of an electrode. To improve accuracy, researchers in this field are relying on statistical models that get better at pattern-matching the more times a subject “speaks” through the electrodes, but even then there are lapses.
Speech is the result of complex muscle movements, not all of which generate sound. Thus, using myography (the measurement of muscle contraction) it’s possible to transcribe the intended communication of a “speaker” who is silently enunciating words using the mouth and throat. The process is analogous to lip-reading, but with a greater degree of sophistication, and a greater degree of privacy.
The technology also has many civilian applications, enabling users to talk with privacy even in the company of others or in very noisy environments.
Firefighters and other help and rescue personal could use the technology in their daily routines, as could people with vocal cord disorders
Subvocal Recognition is a technology in its infancy. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on; when the technology matures, it will yield devices that could significantly disrupt fields such as teleconferencing, personal communication, and even smart buildings.