Silent speech interface is a device that allows

speech communication Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

without using the sound made when people vocalize their

speech sound In phonetics and linguistics, a phone is any distinct speech sound or gesture, regardless of whether the exact sound is critical to the meanings of words. In contrast, a phoneme is a speech sound in a given language that, if swapped with another ...

s. As such it is a type of electronic

lip reading The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

. It works by the computer identifying the

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

s that an individual pronounces from nonauditory sources of information about their speech movements. These are then used to recreate the speech using speech synthesis.

Information sources

Silent speech interface systems have been created using

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...

and optical camera input of

tongue The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste ...

and

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

movements. Electromagnetic devices are another technique for tracking tongue and lip movements. The detection of speech movements by electromyography of speech articulator muscles and the larynx is another technique. Another source of information is the

vocal tract The vocal tract is the cavity in human bodies and in animals where the sound produced at the sound source ( larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered. In birds it consists of the trachea, the syrinx, the oral cavity, the upper part of th ...

resonance signals that get transmitted through

bone conduction Bone conduction is the conduction of sound to the inner ear primarily through the bones of the skull, allowing the hearer to perceive audio content without blocking the ear canal. Bone conduction transmission occurs constantly as sound waves vibra ...

called non-audible murmurs. They have also been created as a

brain–computer interface A brain–computer interface (BCI), sometimes called a brain–machine interface (BMI) or smartbrain, is a direct communication pathway between the brain's electrical activity and an external device, most commonly a computer or robotic limb. B ...

using brain activity in the

motor cortex The motor cortex is the region of the cerebral cortex believed to be involved in the planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements. The motor cortex is an area of the frontal lobe located in the posterior precentral gyrus immediately ...

obtained from intracortical microelectrodes.

Uses

Such devices are created as aids to those unable to create the sound phonation needed for audible speech such as after laryngectomies.Deng Y., Patel R., Heaton J. T., Colby G., Gilmore L. D., Cabrera J., Roy S. H., De Luca C.J., Meltzner G. S.(2009)
Disordered speech recognition using acoustic and sEMG signals
In INTERSPEECH-2009, 644-647. Another use is for communication when speech is masked by

background noise Background noise or ambient noise is any sound other than the sound being monitored (primary sound). Background noise is a form of noise pollution or interference. Background noise is an important concept in setting noise levels. Background n ...

or distorted by

self-contained breathing apparatus A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), sometimes referred to as a compressed air breathing apparatus (CABA) or simply breathing apparatus (BA), is a device worn to provide breathable air in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to ...

. A further practical use is where a need exists for silent communication, such as when privacy is required in a public place, or hands-free data silent transmission is needed during a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

or security operation.Hueber T, Benaroya E-L, Chollet G, Denby B, Dreyfus G, Stone M. (2010). Development of a silent speech interface driven by ultrasound and optical images of the tongue and lips. Speech Communication, 52 288–300. Deng Y., Colby G., Heaton J. T., and Meltzner HG. S. (2012). Signal Processing Advances for the MUTE sEMG-Based Silent Speech Recognition System. Military Communication Conference, MILCOM 2012. In 2002, the Japanese company NTT DoCoMo announced it had created a silent

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

using electromyography and imaging of lip movement. "The spur to developing such a phone," the company said, "was ridding public places of noise," adding that, "the technology is also expected to help people who have permanently lost their voice." The feasibility of using silent speech interfaces for practical communication has since then been shown.

Recent Development and Research

Alter Ego ''- Arnav Kapur'' A 2019 study by MIT Researcher, Arnav Kapur, has developed a Silent Speech Interface, AlterEgo, which effectively serves as a brain-computer interface and requires only subtle stimulation of the speech muscles to operate
Kapur's Research Paper
delves into the development and accuracy of such a device. His research has sparked the community into further developing this new and emerging research SpeakUP ''- Varun Chandrashekhar''

by Varun Chandrashekhar also involves the development of a Silent Speech Interface, SpeakUp. This study was targeted at making a low-cost Silent Speech Interface using Commercially available sentences and identifying the best signal to speech algorithm to use in these types of devices

In fiction

The decoding of silent speech using a computer played an important role in Arthur C. Clarke's story and Stanley Kubrick's associated film '' A Space Odyssey''. In this,

HAL 9000 HAL 9000 is a fictional artificial intelligence character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's ''Space Odyssey'' series. First appearing in the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', HAL ( Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) ...

, a computer controlling spaceship

Discovery One The United States Spacecraft ''Discovery One'' is a fictional spaceship featured in the first two novels of the ''Space Odyssey'' series by Arthur C. Clarke and in the films '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) directed by Stanley Kubrick and '' 20 ...

, bound for Jupiter, discovers a plot to deactivate it by the mission astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole through

their conversations.Clarke, Arthur C. (1972). The Lost Worlds of 2001. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. . In

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

’s series (including '' Ender’s Game''), the artificial intelligence can be spoken to while the protagonist wears a movement sensor in his jaw, enabling him to converse with the AI without making noise. He also wears an ear implant.

References

{{reflist, 2 Applications of artificial intelligence Speech recognition Speech synthesis User interface techniques Assistive technology

Information sources

Uses

Recent Development and Research

In fiction

See also

References