Article Eight

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/04/lip-reading-cell-phone-hit-german-tech/

This article talks about a new technology created in Germany, a lip reading cell phone. According to it's developers, attaching the device to the phone and then the lips allows for a user to only mouth the words without actually voicing them out loud. The device would then decifer what was said through electromyography, the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity. They plan to show off this new device on a German show soon. The picture on the article shows the two developers with the device attached to their mouths, with many wires shown.

Personally, I think this is awesome. I honestly find it unbelievable that this is even possible to do, yet they have a found a way. This could have so many potential uses in our society. The article jokingly references the idea of being able to "talk" during a movie. Another thing that it really could do is allow for the user to enter in personal information with much greater security than before. However, the largest thing I could see this helping the world is those who are mute for a particular reason. A fair amount of mute individuals can mouth the words without being able to vocalize them. With this device, they could talk on a cell phone with no problems. I realize that in many instances they would not be able to hear a response, but for an emergency situation this would greatly impact a mute person's life.

Another article found here http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/03/05/new-lip-reading-cell-phone-system-can-allow-for-silent-conversations/ goes into further discussion on the same device. It gives much of the same detail, but also adds that this device could allow for a user to be able to speak in a native tongue and have it translated into English or another language. It also goes into greater detail on how the device works and the tests that have been done on it.

The only potential problem I could see with this is the bulkiness of the object. Both articles show the picture with the device attached to the mouth. It is about nine wires all over the mouth and face. This is obviously something people would not use in every day life. I would likely not even think about buying this type of thing. It is just great that technology is coming out that will greatly help society as a whole. When this becomes cheaper as well, more people will use it for the convenience. I can't wait to see where this technology goes in the future and if it ever hits the mainstream markets