Researchers at the University of Califonia San Francisco developed a way to allow people with speech loss to communicate with their brains. The technology uses neural networks to translate brainwaves into words and phrases. It is a breakthrough because until now, the best neuroprosthetic technology has provided is letter-by-letter translations, which is very slow.
Aside from the highly refined algorithms, the new method taps the part of the brain that sends signals to the voicebox. Previous techniques used brain areas that controlled the hand or arm. It seems almost too obvious that scientists should have used this section of the brain from the start, but such is neurological research.
