UC Davis researchers debut highly accurate brain-to-speech technology [Video]

The big picture: A team from the University of California, Davis, has announced a breakthrough brain-computer-interface (BCI) capable of translating brain signals into readable text with an extremely high level of accuracy. The recently published findings detail the breakthrough technology, which can predict the user’s desired words with a less than 3 percent error rate. Researchers reviewing the findings claim the communication tech’s error rate is on par with that of a non-disabled speaker reading a paragraph out loud.

The study’s results, which were published on August 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine, outlines the incredible progress made by Casey Harrell, a 45-year-old father who was stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. According to the study, Harrell’s symptoms began five years prior to his enrollment in the study.

The disease rendered Harrell …