Arnav Kapur has developed a device known as ‘AlterEgo’.
Delhi-born Arnav Kapur, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed a device known as “AlterEgo,” an artificial intelligence (AI)-based “mind-reading” headset. The device, the prototype of which debuted in 2018, lets users interact with machines, AI assistants and other humans by articulating words internally. Communication is completely private and internal when bone conduction is used to send and receive information streams. This essentially means that after wearing the device one can order a pizza or a subway without a conversation.
According to MIT, “AlterEgo is a non-invasive, wearable, peripheral neural interface that allows people to converse in natural language with machines, artificial intelligence assistants, services and other humans without any voice — without opening their mouths and without externally observable movements — simply by articulating words internally.”
The user receives bone conduction audio feedback, keeping the interface closed and not disrupting the user’s normal auditory experience. This makes it possible for a user to connect to a computer in a way that they consider to be completely internal to themselves, almost as if they were talking to themselves. The main goal of this project is to support communication for people with speech difficulties, especially those suffering from diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis.
A video of Mr Kapur using the device has gone viral on social media. In the video, the interviewer asks Mr. Kapur questions and he answers them almost immediately without saying a single word. The interviewer then exclaims “You’ve got the whole internet in your head”.
According to MIT, Mr. Kapur is fond of science, math and art. He says that “all of them are important to consider not as separate disciplines, but as complements in the search for solutions to the world’s problems”. He is currently pursuing his PhD at MIT, where he is currently studying Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab.
Arnav has an extensive list of achievements, with inventions including a 3D-printable drone, a new platform to measure gene expression on a large scale, and a device called Drishti that helps rehabilitate the visually impaired. He has also worked on a lunar rover intended to land on the moon and send pictures back to Earth. MIT website added. He was also featured in TIME’s 100 Best Inventions of 2020.
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