Holy helmets, Batman! Bane-like mask lets you 'talk' to computers without making a sound

At long last, the war against privacy-invading lip readers and Alexa eavesdroppers may finally be won. Boffins at MIT have developed a silent speech interface called AlterEgo that allows wearers to communicate via text translated from neuromuscular signals – tiny face twitches – without a visible tell. It's a mechanism for …

[Chris G]

Not too sure

Anyone would want to hear the things I mutter to myself.

[John H Woods]

Re: Not too sure

WHAT did you just say?

[Fungus Bob]

Re: Not too sure

"Anyone would want to hear the things I mutter to myself."

YOU'RE NOT MUTTERING!

[Michael H.F. Wilkinson]

Re: Not too sure

I told'em, I told'em, I told'em, millennium hand and shrimp! Buggrit, buggrem, I told'em, they'd only run out, doorsteps, millennium hand and shrimp

[Pen-y-gors]

Spelling?

gadget on your fizog for it to work.

I'm sure it should be "phizog" - truncated form of physiognomy

[Martin Gregorie]

Medical use

Pity this didn't appear a year or two back. It would have been interesting to see if it could have helped Stephen Hawking.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Medical use

Pity this didn't appear a year or two back. It would have been interesting to see if it could have helped Stephen Hawking.

It wouldn't.

It might have helped in the early years of his illness, but certainly not a year or two back.

[GIRZiM]

Re: Spelling?

It's WWI English troop mispronunciation of the French word 'visage' (meaning 'face').

One can only assume that they hadn't much use for the English word 'visage' (meaning 'face') that was derived from the French word 'visage' (meaning 'visage' or 'face') ; )

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like a...

Face hugger...

[John F***ing Stepp]

Re: Looks like a...

Three days later the newest Intel chip bursts out of your chest. . .

(always wondered where those came from)

[Mark 85]

Re: Looks like a...

I was thinking of Hannibal Lecter.

[Fungus Bob]

Re: Looks like a...

We are Borg.

[Rameses Niblick the Third Kerplunk Kerplunk Whoops Where's My Thribble?]

Re: Looks like a...

Or with more of a Doctor Who lean, I'd say we are well on our way to turning ourselves in to Cybermen.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

You should smile more often

It looks like it's wired up in all the right spots to control your face too.

[VikiAi]

Re: You should smile more often

Happiness is mandatory. Are you happy, citizen?

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: You should smile more often

Are you happy, citizen?

Trust The Computer. The Computer is your friend.

Please report to the nearest clone recycling centre.

Paranoia, not just a lifestyle choice.

[GIRZiM]

Re: Happiness is mandatory. Are you happy, citizen?

You have taken your Joy, haven't you?

You're not a downer, are you?

[John Brown (no body)]

Interrogation?

Are the TLAs drooling over this as a new interrogation technique?

[harmjschoonhoven]

Utter failure

Not compatible with Google Glass. Wait - we need more ears.

[redpawn]

Better than shouting at your computer

Time to implant an electrode. For secure communications you would go wired. Otherwise you could broadcast your thoughts to all in range with Bluetooth.

[tallmantim2]

Bane

explains why he has that mask on.

he just want to chat privately to Alexa.

[Anonymous Coward]

Was the original article dated 1 April?

[Anonymous Coward]

No...?

But the title has been changed at least 3 times with 3 photos... um... :P

[Avatar of They]

Seen these before.

Looks more like the shadow tech interfaces from Babylon 5. Except it is on the sides of their faces not their chins.

[Richard Scratcher]

Siri...

Place an order for a dozen gottles of Löwengräu geer, the one in the grown gottle with the glue lagel.

[GIRZiM]

Re: Siri...

A la Red Dwarf, you want soup but get a pair of Wellington boots instead.

[clivex]

Bizarro

I always assumed that a Bane-like mask would make me talk with an outrageously bizarre accent and diction.

[Eddy Ito]

Damn machines! They're going to put all the Vulcan mind melders out of work.

[Nimby]

by sticking implants into the brain

Wait! That! THAT is what I want. Forget the Messy Mask. Just wire my comms system straight to the source, thanks. Can we do more research into that please? I don't mind invasive at all, as long as it's SAFE. And while we're in there, can you add a clock? Maybe a memory management tool? (But not the one from Johnny Mnemonic, thanks. How much data fits on a micro SD card these days? Why mess with meatspace.) How about FM radio? I mean if you're going to be cracking my skull open, might as well opt for all the extras in one go. But I wonder, if you upgrade to literally hear voices in your head as the norm, how do you know when you've gone crazy? Maybe that's where cyberpsychosis really starts...

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy helmets a better solution has been around for decades

For a couple hundred bucks one could simply use a stenomask and an unlimited vocabulary....

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

What's wrong with keyboards?

[GIRZiM]

Re: What's wrong with keyboards?

Well, apart from the fact that I don't much like yours...

You have to carry them around in your hand/under your arm/in a bag or hire a sherpa/porter/bus boy

Wireless/Bluetooth can be hijacked. Wired can be listened to acoustically and keystrokes uniquely determined. They are fundamentally unsecure.

The mask, otoh, looks cool and scary. It may not be any more secure. It might get you beaten up by burly men in pubs. Worse (or, depending on your POV, better) things may happen to you in pub toilets. But it does look cool and scary.