AlterEgo: Delhi-born MIT scholar develops headset that can read your mind

The device understands instructions without the user having to actually say them. In other words, using the device, people can order a pizza or a subway without having to speak, type anything

Delhi-born Arnav Kapur has developed a headset-like device that can perform "mind-reading", NDTV has reported. Arnav, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed a device called "AlterEgo". The device is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) technology and is capable of 'mind-reading' features.

Its first prototype came to light in 2018, which let users interact with machines, AI assistants and other people by articulating ideas and words internally. The communication is entirely private and internal and leverages bone conduction to send and receive streams of information. 

The device is capable of understanding instructions from the user without having to say them. In other words, using the device, people can order a pizza or a subway without having to speak anything, the report said.

The report cited MIT as saying, "AlterEgo is a non-invasive, wearable, peripheral neural interface that allows humans to converse in natural language with machines, artificial intelligence assistants, services, and other people without any voice-without opening their mouth, and without externally observable movements-simply by articulating words internally."

The device works by establishing a closed loop of conversation via bone conduction. Thus, the device does not interfere with the user's normal auditory experience.

The project is primarily aimed at supporting communication for people who face speech-related difficulties, especially those suffering from diseases like Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis, the report added.

A video of Arnav Kapur has gone viral in which he can be seen answering a question asked by an interviewer for which he uses the device to Google the question, but he does not say a word or type anything. Essentially, Arnav communicates with the device and asks it to use Google to find out the answer without uttering a word, leaving the interviewer amazed.