For years, Pancho communicated by spelling out words on a computer using a pointer attached to a baseball cap, an arduous method that allowed him to type about five correct words per minute. “I had to bend/lean my head forward, down, and poke a key letter one-by-one to write,” he emailed. Last year, the researchers gave him another device involving a head-controlled mouse, but it is still not nearly as fast as the brain electrodes in the research sessions. Through the electrodes, Pancho communicated 15 to 18 words per minute. Dr. Chang says faster decoding is possible, although it’s unclear if it will approach the pace of typical conversational speech: about 150 words per minute.

Source: New York Times July 14, 2021 21:00 UTC