This very early morning as I was lying awake before rising, my senses were in a pleasant darkness that was full of words. I was relaxed but my mind was active. I had ideas I wanted to transcribe. Any current system I have for transcription—writing by hand, talking into my MP3 player, even using Dragon Naturally Speaking to type out what I say—would have intruded into my mental space.What I wanted was a neural transcriber so I could write even when I wasn’t near my computer or in a state when writing by hand was possible.
Given the advances in neural interfaces it seems plausible that a device for transcribing words from thoughts could be developed. Granted, current devices are crude toys, but a focused device that was the equivalent of early computer interfaces—text I/O, or even just text input since outputting words through audio is so simple and effective—is technically feasible in my opinion.
A simple device would use a typing mechanism, with different neural energy representing different key combinations. Even better would be a mechanism for directly recognizing full words, similar to speech recognition software but without requiring vocalization. A company called Ambient claims to have already invented a device, called The Audeo, that will do this, at least partially. The device is intended only for people who cannot speak, as it interprets the muscle impulses for speech and converts them to computer-generated speech audio. That’s highly commendable and if it works well, it’s a step forward.
The Audeo's signal path
However, back in the world of my selfish desires to maximize my creativity, I want a device that doesn’t require vocalization impulses. I want to think the words only. I can think much faster than I can vocalize or type. (In fact, when I was a child they initially thought I couldn’t read because when asked to read aloud I skipped many words. They hustled me to a psychologist who gave me an IQ test, after which they figured that I was comprehending fine; my speech just couldn’t keep up. Then they had me start doing work a grade ahead of my class.) It’s not just laziness; I want to operate at maximum speed and in mental states of semi-consciousness where I get some of my best ideas.
As of today my best option is to try to remember as many half-awake ideas as I can for transcription later. But the more the real world intrudes on them, the more ephemeral they become. The harder I try to hold on to them, the more they slip away. But for today, I guess that’s the best I can hope for.
