ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → Electronics

Indian teenager invents cheap device that turns breath into speech

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
September 16, 2014
in Electronics, Health, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

RelatedPosts

Baby seals can modulate the pitch of their voice, much like humans do
Humans are not unique in understanding the basics of language
Stephen Hawking: You Should Support Wealth Redistribution
Scientists develop single-atom transistor with ‘perfect’ precision
In photo: sixteen year old inventor  Arsh Shah Dilbagi demonstrating his breath to voice synthesizer.
In photo: sixteen year old inventor Arsh Shah Dilbagi demonstrating his breath to voice synthesizer.

About 1.4% of the world’s population today is speech impaired, due to conditions such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), locked-in syndrome (LIS), Encephalopathy (SEM),Parkinson’s disease, and paralysis. Imagine all the people living in Germany today were unable to speak and you’ll come to realize just how far reaching this condition is. So, aside for those being paralyzed, there are a lot of people who can’t speak, making any kind of relationship with friends and family unbearable – the patient is essentially trapped in a situation where he/she is forced to live inside her head until the end of days. An Indian teenager sought to address this heartbreaking world problem and succeed in building a device that is easy to make, cheap and effective. Most of all, it’s extremely ingenious since it can translate orderly breaths into speech.

Follow my breath

If you followed the work of the esteemed physicist Stephen Hawking or have seen him on TV, you may have noticed that he uses a complex computer interface to speak. Oddly enough, his voice is one of the most recognized on the planet, and it’s all synthesized! The tech he employs is, however, extremely expensive.

Sixteen-year-old Arsh Shah Dilbagi took a different route. Instead of building complex and expensive IR sensors that trigger off of twitches in the cheek muscle under the eye, like those used by Hawking’s machine, Dilbagi designed a system that can translate a user’s breath into electrical signals. As such, the device is only made out of a pressure-sensitive diaphragm etched directly into a silicon chip, and an amplifying device to increase the sound of the user’s breath. This allowed him to keep the price tag at $80, compared to thousands someone would need to cash out for a device similar to Hawking’s.

The tech, called ‘TALK’, can identify two types of breaths, as well as  different intensities and timing so that the user can effectively spell out words using Morse code. An embedded microprocessor then reads the timed breaths as dots and dashes and translates them into words. A second microprocessor synthesizes the words to spell them into a voice. It’s remarkably simple and effective, even though the user needs to be trained to use Morse code, but it sure beats the alternative.

“After testing the final design with myself and friends and family, I was able to arrange a meeting with the Head of Neurology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi and tested TALK (under supervision of doctor and in controlled environment) with a person suffering from SEM and Parkinson’s Disease,” Dilbagi reports. “The person was able to give two distinguishable signals using his breath and the device worked perfectly.”

Dilbagi is currently the only finalist in Asia enrolled in Google’s Global Science Fair, a competition that’s open to 13 to 18-year-olds from anywhere in the world. Let’s wish him the best of luck!

Tags: electrical engineeringspeechstephen hawking

ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

Future

We’re Starting to Sound Like ChatGPT — And We Don’t Even Realize It

byTibi Puiu
2 weeks ago
News

Why Warmer Countries Have Louder Languages

byTibi Puiu
2 weeks ago
Animals

Baby seals can modulate the pitch of their voice, much like humans do

byTibi Puiu
4 years ago
A wearable artificial graphene throat transforms human throat movements into different sounds. Credit: ACS Nano.
Future

Wearable artificial voice box could help mute people speak

byTibi Puiu
6 years ago

Recent news

Scientists Discover Life Finds a Way in the Deepest, Darkest Trenches on Earth

July 31, 2025

Solid-State Batteries Charge in 3 Minutes, Offer Nearly Double the Range, and Never Catch Fire. So Why Aren’t They In Your Phones and Cars Yet?

July 30, 2025

What if the Secret to Sustainable Cities Was Buried in Roman Cement?

July 30, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.