Home Tech “Type” with your ears!This device can monitor ear muscle movement

“Type” with your ears!This device can monitor ear muscle movement

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Big data abstracts Author: Caleb Can you move your ears? People who have this skill finally don’t just use their ears to sell cuteness like Big Ear Tutu. According to an experiment conducted by a team led by Dr. Nick Gompertz from the University of Bath, they I want to let the paralyzed person communicate with other people again through ear movement . The core of this technology is a computer connected Silicone earphones , Which contains a miniature camera and lights, this headset will be temporarily inserted into the patient’s ear canal. The camera will constantly monitor Tensor tympanic membrane , It is one of the smallest muscles in the human body. When the user consciously contracts the tensor tympanic membrane, the device picks up the action, and then transmits it to the computer to communicate with others by typing. Researchers believe that most stroke patients, or people with advanced motor neuron disease, can still control their tensor tympanic muscle. This makes Digest Bacteria think of the “Mental Typing” that appeared on the cover of Nature last week. Researchers from Stanford University, Brown University, and Harvard Medical School have jointly developed a brain-computer interface technology specifically for typing to enable paralyzed patients to type. The speed of communication increases. It is understood that a research subject using this device has a writing speed per minute 90 Characters, the original online accuracy rate is 94.1% , The accuracy of offline automatic correction exceeds 99% . By the way, it’s the first time I have heard about the use of ear typing, so let’s take a look~ Earswitch makes you You can “type” by moving your ears According to reports, this technique of typing with ears is called “Earswitch” . The researchers said that the current auxiliary equipment has more or less defects, usually Unable to use because of the patient’s further development . For example, the infrared device used by Hawking mainly controls the infrared switch installed on the glasses to communicate by twitching his cheeks. However, as Hawking’s condition worsened, he gradually lost control of key muscles. The system must be overhauled every two years. Earswitch mainly relies on the movement of ear muscles, which can circumvent this problem well. In terms of specific operation, first, the user needs to insert the silicone earphone into his ear canal. On the computer connected to the earphone, the user can see a virtual keyboard , There is a row of buttons on it, when the row of the desired letter is highlighted, the user Choose by tightening the tympanic membrane muscles . Once the camera detects this action, it will trigger the computer to select this row of buttons. Next, each key in the row will be highlighted in turn. Similarly, when the key is highlighted, the user selects the desired key by tightening the ear muscles. In this way, paralyzed patients can “type” to express themselves. Of course, in order to speed up this process, a Predictive text system , The system will display the complete words that may be entered according to the letter currently selected by the user. Brian Dickie, Director of Research and Development of the MND Association, said: “Earswitch may provide a brand new opportunity for patients with MND (motor neuron disease) to better control their communication methods and the surrounding environment, and ultimately allow them to choose the life they want. the way.” Dario Cazzola of the Department of Health at the University of Bath said, “With the help of experts in electronic and electrical engineering, we helped Nick further develop how to install Earswitch and expect to miniaturize the device in the future.” “We hope this work can help many patients with neurological diseases in the UK and around the world.” At present, Gompertz and his colleagues are now commercializing Earswitch technology through a spin-off company, and it may even allow some who want to free their hands to perform daily tasks. Non-paralyzed user use. In fact, we all have “early moving magic” However, there is a key point in this study, that is, it is not very friendly to people who can’t control the movement of the tympanic membrane. Now the research team has also launched a survey on the official website to determine the proportion of relevant people.

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