Throat Talkin'
From: Discover - July 2004 - page 16
By: Susan Kruglinski

Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center are developing a way to communicate
silently, using only the throat and tongue. Talking without moving the mouth
is called subvocal speech; you may do it unconsciously when you read or
think. Using sensors attached to the throat, Chuck Jorgensen of NASA can
detect the nerve signals that fire during subvocal speech and translate them
into words. So far the system recognizes only a limited vocabulary, but it
works. The goal is to facilitate communication in situations where ambient
noise, the need for privacy, or physical impediments make it impractical to
speak out loud. Astronauts, for example, often have trouble speaking due to
pressure changes in the vocal cavity and swelling of the throat. "We are
looking at the direct connection from nervous system to machine, bypassing
the requirement for the physical body," says Jorgensen, who heads NASA's
Extension of the Human Senses program. "There is no visible outside movement
at all; I think that's kind of cool." If he can perfect his subvocal speech
reader, people ranging from spies to stroke victims may agree.

Other links:
http://www.nasatech.com/NEWS/May04/who_0504.html
http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article2484.html
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200403/18/eng20040318_137816.shtml
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/1891
http://www.arc.nasa.gov/aboutames-pressrelease.cfm?id=15000091
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040318072412.htm
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2004/mar/HQ_04093_subvocal_speech.html
