MIT’s Media Lab has developed a new headset called AlterEgo. It is strapped to the users face. The user talks to it and in return, it also talks back to the user. However, no words are involved in this conversation. The user can say things in his head like ‘what street am I on,’ AlterEgo will read the signals your brain sends to your mouth and jaw and gives an answer to you. According to MIT, using this tech, people will soon be able to control their TV with their mind.
The team explained that AlterEgo communicates with the user through bone-conduction headphones. They circumvent the ear canal by transmitting sound vibrations through the facial bones. MIT Media Lab said this makes it easier for AlterEgo to talk to you while you’re talking to someone else. During trials which involved 15 people, AlterEgo attained an accurate transcription rate of 92 percent. A graduate student who lead AlterEgo’s development, Arnav Kapur, describes it as an “intelligence-augmentation device.”
Kapur’s thesis advisor at MIT, Pattle Maes, said, “We basically can’t live without our cell phones, our digital devices. But at the moment, the use of those devices is very disruptive. So, my students and I have for a very long time been experimenting with new form factors and new types of experience that enable people to still benefit from all the wonderful knowledge and services that these devices give us, but do it in a way that lets them remain in the present.”