Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, used machine learning to decipher the unique brain activity that underpins concurrent speech and physical gestures in three patients. Their BCI successfully translated the thoughts of two participants into commands that dictated the expressions of a full-body virtual avatar. The research is published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
“Conversation is about much more than the words being spoken. It’s a multilayered, dynamic process involving the whole motor cortex,” said Dr. Edward Chang, a professor of neurological surgery at UCSF. “This proof-of-concept shows us it’s possible for a BCI to restore some of this freedom and flexibility.”