Exclusive: Startup lets you query AI with silent speech
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AlterEgo CEO Arnav Kapur wearing a prototype of the company's headset. Image: AlterEgo
A new technology being previewed Monday promises to allow people to issue voice commands to a computer without having to utter speech.
Why it matters: The technology, from Boston-based AlterEgo, could be broadly useful for, say, working in a crowded cafe — but it has particular usefulness for those who have lost audible speech, such as those with ALS or multiple sclerosis.
- In a demonstration video being posted later today and shared first with Axios, AlterEgo CEO Arnav Kapur shows a prototype device taking notes, querying an AI agent and performing other tasks without the user producing audible sound.
How it works: While other brain interfaces focus on reading brain activity, AlterEgo reads the intent to speak by "capturing the downstream information that conducts from cranial nerves to motor units outwards to the device worn around the ear," and uses the bone conduction headset to communicate back to the user.
- That makes the technology less invasive in two ways. It doesn't require implantation and it gives users more control over which thoughts to share with the device.
- In the demonstration, Kapur showed AlterEgo working both by mouthing words and even just by thinking about mouthing them, with little-to-no visible cue of speech even being intended.
- Kapur pioneered his work at MIT and showed an earlier demonstration of the underlying technology at the TED conference in 2019, which Axios chronicled at the time.
What they're saying: "Importantly, the hardware has no access to brain data — this is not EEG or invasive neural recording," Kapur said in a statement to Axios.
Yes, but: AlterEgo isn't disclosing the size of the company or its funding, nor when the product will be available.
What's next: Kapur will discuss AlterEgo's technology live at our Axios AI+ Summit on Sept. 17 in Washington, D.C.
