Here’s a futuristic device that you may be using in the next 5 to 10 years time. A new technology introduced at the CeBIT fair aims to transform lip movements into a computer generated voice for the listener on the other end of the cellphone. The device was developed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and uses Electromyography to monitor tiny muscular movements that occur when speaking and then converts them into electrical pulses that can be turned into speech. The technology currently uses electrodes that are glued to the skin, but in the future, such electrodes could be incorporated into the cellphone. The technology is particularly viable for those who have lost their voice due to illness or accident, or passing on confidential information without anyone eavesdropping.

The Institute is also working on a translation technology that allows native speakers to speak in their language and the same being translated into a foreign language for the receiver on the other end. The technology is operational for languages like German, English, French, but languages like Chinese would be relatively difficult. The device currently works with 99% accuracy and efficiency, which means that one out of every 100 words spoken could be wrong. They are working on the hitches and technical difficult to make it completely usable in a period of 5 to 10 years.
[Redorbit]

Topics: Gadgets Tags: on March 5, 2010

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