Stephen Hawking tests device that can read his mind

GlobalPost

Stephen Hawking is testing a new device that may one day use his thoughts to create speech.

The Cambridge University cosmologist who is almost completely paralyzed, is trying the device that monitors his brain activity with the goal of one day reading his mind.

According to the New Scientist, the iBrain device uses a single point on the scalp to monitor brain activity.

That activity is run through an algorithm that finds and extracts useful information, which is processed into speech.

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Currently Hawking uses a series of cheek twitches that are recorded by a computer and made into speech – a gruelingly slow process, said V-R Zone.

In the first trial of the device, scientist Philip Low of Stanford University, told Hawking to imagine moving his limbs while wearing the device.

The New Scientist said researchers were able to identify the movements he imagined using only his brain activity.

The next step is to have him communicate questions, thoughts and demands that can soon be made into speech.

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