Comments on: Neckband Detects User Thoughts And Translates to Speech [Neural Interface] http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/ Exploring the hi-tech artificial, virtual things we design Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:54:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: wow http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-39436 wow Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:24:39 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-39436 this is bad this is very very bad, pretty cool but very bad. if they can do this whos to say while your wering these things they"you knoe who" wont be able to read our thoughts things weve done future ambitions and be able to prosecute us accordingly, minority report was a good movie. so was godzilla but i dont wont that to become reality either. this is bad this is very very bad, pretty cool but very bad. if they can do this whos to say while your wering these things they”you knoe who” wont be able to read our thoughts things weve done future ambitions and be able to prosecute us accordingly, minority report was a good movie. so was godzilla but i dont wont that to become reality either.

]]> By: Andrea http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-30686 Andrea Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:25:57 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-30686 You guys are correct. The people that created this have a system which does pick up this neural activity and is capable of recognizing a few words and numbers. For this demonstration, his responses were prerecorded, as evidenced by the fact that they are smooth and fluent, not jerky, like you would expect if it was created by stringing individual phonemes together. He is triggering each response using what amounts to an abbreviation (like "one" for the first response, "two" for the second, etc.) the chip has been programmed in this case to play a specific response for a specific signal. It is a interesting technology, but this demonstration is misleading; it implies much more advancement than they have actually achieved. You guys are correct. The people that created this have a system which does pick up this neural activity and is capable of recognizing a few words and numbers. For this demonstration, his responses were prerecorded, as evidenced by the fact that they are smooth and fluent, not jerky, like you would expect if it was created by stringing individual phonemes together. He is triggering each response using what amounts to an abbreviation (like “one” for the first response, “two” for the second, etc.) the chip has been programmed in this case to play a specific response for a specific signal. It is a interesting technology, but this demonstration is misleading; it implies much more advancement than they have actually achieved.

]]> By: BRIG http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-22494 BRIG Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:39:17 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-22494 Oh and: I do not think you can compare the emotive epoc with this device, really: the epoc is measuring neural activity in the brain - or so it seems.. this means they are picking up on increased activity on certain brain centres...which would explain why they can ( likely with some inaccuracy) kind of tell you about the emotion stuff! They never even hinted at being able to pick up specific linguistic thoughts! The electrodes in the neckband can realistically only pick up neural activity from nerve to muscle and really: if only the activity in the larynx is measured and they get speech interpretation from that, I need to go and study again as I am apparently not up to date. The only way I have to explain this is if the guy on stage has actually learned to work the muscles in his neck to an extend that allows the neck collar to pick up relatively clear signals and translate them into words. Even with this ( that would be a feat! And forget being able to use that easily with people with progressive conditions: It would mean a LOT of practice and drill!) I would have expected a message that is less smooth than the one we got over the phone. That sounded to me like a pre-recorded message! So maybe he learned to produce a certain muscle pattern in his neck and programmed the machine to produce this message when it picks up this particular neuro-signal for long enough ( note time lapse of answers). I would love to proven wrong, working , as I do, with people with progressive illnesses. Where can I find more about this? Oh and: I do not think you can compare the emotive epoc with this device, really: the epoc is measuring neural activity in the brain – or so it seems.. this means they are picking up on increased activity on certain brain centres…which would explain why they can ( likely with some inaccuracy) kind of tell you about the emotion stuff! They never even hinted at being able to pick up specific linguistic thoughts!

The electrodes in the neckband can realistically only pick up neural activity from nerve to muscle and really: if only the activity in the larynx is measured and they get speech interpretation from that, I need to go and study again as I am apparently not up to date.

The only way I have to explain this is if the guy on stage has actually learned to work the muscles in his neck to an extend that allows the neck collar to pick up relatively clear signals and translate them into words. Even with this ( that would be a feat! And forget being able to use that easily with people with progressive conditions: It would mean a LOT of practice and drill!) I would have expected a message that is less smooth than the one we got over the phone. That sounded to me like a pre-recorded message! So maybe he learned to produce a certain muscle pattern in his neck and programmed the machine to produce this message when it picks up this particular neuro-signal for long enough
( note time lapse of answers).

I would love to proven wrong, working , as I do, with people with progressive illnesses.

Where can I find more about this?

]]> By: BRIG http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-22492 BRIG Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:01:18 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-22492 I do not understand this! How can you find a unique neural signature for a specific word ( I am guessing they are using sub-vocalisation for this...a process where you actively think the message in language and image to speak it...this alone will filter out most of your ruder thoughts!), using ...electrodes that sit on the skin??? This means that every time you place them they will not exactly fit on the same spot. How do you filter out all the surrounding neural activity in the surrounding muscles? Where do you place the electrodes to catch those neural signatures? Also: In conditions such as ALS, MS and MND the signals from the brain to the muscles are disrupted and become progressively more so, so sub-vocalisation will not work as well either: Even if they could pick up signal 'templates' for specific words and messages: These will become distorted. It is true that most speech sounds, (except vocalisation) are made further up in the vocal tract...however: I understand that base-of tongue and sublingual movement can indicate a lot of those sounds. Still I really do not understand how this can work. I am seriously intrigued...and skeptical. You would think that with a device like this one should be able to measure swallowing activity very accurately...however no device is around which can do this. I will definitely try and find out more. Thank you for posting, but for now I would have to agree with Frank. Fishy. I do not understand this!
How can you find a unique neural signature for a specific word ( I am guessing they are using sub-vocalisation for this…a process where you actively think the message in language and image to speak it…this alone will filter out most of your ruder thoughts!), using …electrodes that sit on the skin??? This means that every time you place them they will not exactly fit on the same spot. How do you filter out all the surrounding neural activity in the surrounding muscles? Where do you place the electrodes to catch those neural signatures? Also: In conditions such as ALS, MS and MND the signals from the brain to the muscles are disrupted and become progressively more so, so sub-vocalisation will not work as well either: Even if they could pick up signal ‘templates’ for specific words and messages: These will become distorted.
It is true that most speech sounds, (except vocalisation) are made further up in the vocal tract…however: I understand that base-of tongue and sublingual movement can indicate a lot of those sounds.

Still I really do not understand how this can work. I am seriously intrigued…and skeptical. You would think that with a device like this one should be able to measure swallowing activity very accurately…however no device is around which can do this.

I will definitely try and find out more. Thank you for posting, but for now I would have to agree with Frank. Fishy.

]]> By: Hrafn Thorisson http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-18542 Hrafn Thorisson Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:36:57 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-18542 Clever observation Frank! I haven't done more research than for what's in the article above, but I believe we can safely assert that the device works in a manner similar to many neural interfaces, like <a href="http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/first-consumer-brain-machine-interface/" rel="nofollow">Emotiv's Epoc</a>, where unique neural signatures are paired with full words (as opposed to parts of words like phonemes). Clever observation Frank! I haven’t done more research than for what’s in the article above, but I believe we can safely assert that the device works in a manner similar to many neural interfaces, like Emotiv’s Epoc, where unique neural signatures are paired with full words (as opposed to parts of words like phonemes).

]]> By: frank burns http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-18541 frank burns Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:11:43 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-18541 Something is fishy, because the various phonemes of speech are not produced in the neck/vocal folds. These muscles in the larynx are only responsible for voicing and intonation. The articulation of all vowels and consonants takes place at the lips, tongue and velum. Monitoring only the neck would not provide enough information for identifying phonemes, no way. Something is fishy, because the various phonemes of speech are not produced in the neck/vocal folds. These muscles in the larynx are only responsible for voicing and intonation. The articulation of all vowels and consonants takes place at the lips, tongue and velum. Monitoring only the neck would not provide enough information for identifying phonemes, no way.

]]> By: polypus http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-8349 polypus Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:22:53 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-8349 "Writing this I get the idea that this problem could be overcome with AI; natural language processing could detect potentially insulting sentences or harsh language." why is it a 'problem'? wouldn't it be better if we did actually say what we were thinking? is this political correctness gone berserk? another point to ponder, is that if AI could be used to warn the user, then it could just as easily be used to completely silence them. “Writing this I get the idea that this problem could be overcome with AI; natural language processing could detect potentially insulting sentences or harsh language.”

why is it a ‘problem’? wouldn’t it be better if we did actually say what we were thinking? is this political correctness gone berserk?

another point to ponder, is that if AI could be used to warn the user, then it could just as easily be used to completely silence them.

]]> By: One Man’s Weekly Links - March 28, 2008 - One Mans Blog http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/audeo-neckband-neural-interface/comment-page-1/#comment-8029 One Man’s Weekly Links - March 28, 2008 - One Mans Blog Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:21:56 +0000 http://www.thinkartificial.org/machine-interfaces/neckband-detects-user-thoughts-and-translates-to-speech-neural-interface/#comment-8029 [...] Neckband Detects User Thoughts And Translates to Speech [Neural Interface] [...] [...] Neckband Detects User Thoughts And Translates to Speech [Neural Interface] [...]

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