Scientists Create Speech from Brain Signals
Scientists have found a way to use brain signals to make a computer speak the words a person is trying to say. Some illnesses or injuries can cause people to lose the ability to speak. , but they are slow. One method allows a person to "type" by moving their eyes from letter to letter to spell out words. The top speed with this method is about 10 words per minute. Normal human speech is about 150 words per minute.
Much recent research has focused on a direct connection between someone's brain and a computer. . For many BCIs, people have wires attached to their brains. This allows scientists to track the electrical signals in the brain and connect them to computers.
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) decided to focus on the muscles people were trying to use when they spoke. . Epilepsy (癫痫) is a condition where unusual electrical activity in the brain can cause problems with a person's control of their body or senses.
There are about 100 muscles used for speaking. The scientists knew roughly what the shape of the mouth would have to be to make each sound. This allowed them to figure out how the brain signals controlled the speaking muscles. With that information they could "decode" the brain signals to find out how the person was moving their mouth. . The scientists were surprised at how close to real speech the computer speech was.
, the muscles used to make each sound are the same for everyone. That will make it easier for a system like this to help many people.
A. These people could speak normally
B. This is called a "Brain Computer Interface" (BCI)
C. There are some ways for these people to communicate
D. The UCSF's scientists worked with a group of five people with epilepsy
E. There's much to learn before a system like this could be used in everyday life
F. One important discovery is that though each person's brain signals are different
G. Then the scientists were able to create computer speech sounds based on the position of the speaking muscles
