NASA's Subvocal Speech Research
NASA is developing subvocal control for potential use by astronauts. Astronauts on spacewalks or in the International Space Station work in noisy environments doing jobs that often don't leave their hands free to control computer systems. Voice-recognition programs don't work well in these situations because all the background noise makes voice commands difficult to interpret. NASA hopes the use of subvocal signals will circumvent this problem.
While NASA's system could also be extremely beneficial for disabled people, it has other applications in mind, including the ability to speak silently on a cell phone and uses in military or security operations where speaking out loud would be disruptive.
NASA's subvocal system requires two sensors attached to the user's neck, and the system has to be trained to recognize a particular user's subvocal speech patterns. It takes about an hour of work to train six to 10 words, and the system as of 2006 was limited to 25 words and 38 phonemes [source: TFOT].
In an early experiment, NASA's system achieved higher than 90 percent accuracy after "training" the software. The system controlled a Web browser and did a Google search for the term "NASA" [source: NASA].
Solutions that detect eye or face movement offer some control, though not without drawbacks. Eyeglass-mounted sensors can detect movement of the cheek. This can be used like clicking on a computer mouse -- the user raises the cheek when a cursor on a computer screen passes over the correct function or letter. Other systems detect eye movements for a more robust set of commands. Moving the eyes to the right would signal a wheelchair to turn right, for example. However, these systems require a disciplined user because they tend to interpret regular eye movements for "command" eye movements. Swedish developer Tobii Technology is creating a system that detects exactly what the eyes are looking at. Instead of waiting for a moving cursor, the user just looks at a computer screen. Looking at various icons allows for communication and even game playing [source: Tobii]. |
When Will They Be Available?
You won't find thought-controlled wheelchairs or other devices at your local electronics store -- yet. Ambient has a way for potential users to contact the company, but no pricing or availability information was forthcoming (Ambient didn't respond to requests for information).
In an interview with the Web site "The Future of Things," Dr. Chuck Jorgensen, chief scientist for neuroengineering at NASA Ames Research Center, claimed that commercial applications of subvocal control technology were two to four years in the future [source: TFOT].
To learn more about thought-controlled wheelchairs and subvocal speech, check out the links on the next page.
