UC San Francisco creates avatar to help paralyzed people communicate
A team at UC San Francisco, led by Dr. Edward Chang, has created a device that helps people with severe paralysis communicate using an avatar that speaks and gestures for them.
This breakthrough, published in Nature Neuroscience today, could make life easier for millions who've been paralyzed by strokes, traumatic injuries, and degenerative illnesses such as motor-neuron disease.
Skull implant decodes speech and gestures
An array of sensors implanted through a small incision in the skull and covering a large part of the motor cortex uses an array of sensors to pick up signals when someone tries to speak or move.
AI then turns those signals into words or gestures: right now, it recognizes about 10 words and phrases and a similar number of gestures, such as "hello," "nice to meet you," a clap, or a shrug, with approximately two-thirds accuracy.
The surgery might soon be much quicker thanks to wireless tech. Researchers hope to add way more phrases and even let users control things like robots in the future, giving people more independence and ways to connect.