Developed by MIT Media Lab, Alterego is an environmental neural interface that allows us to communicate with machines and AI assistants without using our voice or superficial movements. The first prototype was seen in 2018 and was originally designed as a wearable device extending from your ear to your jaw. Over time, it shrunk and gained more features.
Alterego can perceive signals from the brain without the user speaking aloud. Enhanced with Silent Sense technology, the device is presented in a new wearable form that captures a wide range of speech, including words coming out of the user’s mouth or moments when they want to speak. The productive artificial intelligence responds to incoming input and delivers the communication to the user via bone conduction speakers. Although it does not read thoughts directly, it interprets internal speech and allows you to switch to speechless communication.
When used by two people simultaneously, the situation becomes even more dynamic: you can establish silent conversations or enable your message to be translated into another language for the other party. Since Alterego manages communication by using both brain signals and mouth movements simultaneously, it is unaffected by ambient sounds or movements. This new communication tool could potentially compete with popular and costly devices from companies like Apple in the near future.
