A brain implant lets paralyzed people speak and gesture at the same time through a virtual avatar
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People locked inside an immobile body are getting back not only words but body language, and communication through SI is becoming almost complete.
The team of neurosurgeon Edward Chang (UCSF) published a study in Nature Neuroscience with three patients who had a brainstem stroke or ALS: a grid of 253 electrodes on the cortical surface records signals from speech and motor areas. Machine learning turns attempts to speak, wave a hand or nod, including simultaneously, into text and the movements of a full-body avatar; it worked for two of the participants. A decoder trained on combined speech and gestures proved more accurate than ones trained separately.
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