@ANoel: insomniac, not somnambulist (sleep walker). I heard that joke from my grandfather and it's always been one of my favorites. When he passed away, I went to my church (Unitarian Universalist) where they used to do this thing called Joys and Sorrows so you could light a cnadle and say something about what'd happened. I got up, said he'd passed away and that he was always known for his sense of humor, then told that joke. The church loved and and needless to say under the circumstances it made my day. ;-)

Sean Robertson

@BasicBlack:

sadly, i believe they recently found out that different languages affect different parts of the brain. meaning "si" might be working a different part of the brain than "yes" does. maybe they could program the machine to correct the differences however. make "vamos" to "we go" rather than to...oh say "f*ck you"

jrghoull

@Curves:
"Being a somnambulist, it made perfect sense to me."
On second thought, if I exchanged "wondering" for wandering it WOULD make more sense too!

ANoel

Aw crap... I was hoping this might be useful for my son who has CP and a trache, except that this neckband is basically worn right where his trache needs to go.

SinistarX

@ANoel

Now see, you're someone who could see where my thoughts originated. You must have listening to my inner dialog.

stonecoldcleric

@Curves:
I always thought the definition of a somnambulist was either being susceptible to sleep walking or susceptible to hypnosis.
Basically going under and acting without conscious thought while not being aware of it.

Out2gtcha

Reminds me of the Ender series - being able to talk to a computer sub-vocally.

This is very cool stuff to look forward to!

xrikazen

@Out2gtcha: Sleep walking and being hypnotized arent really the same. I have not yet hurt myself sleepwalking, other than a few bruises from walking into walls and such, though it does tend to bother "normal" people. My X used to freak out when he found me wandering around the house naked and unaware in the middle of the night.

Curves

This would be extremely abused in cheating in a test or doing some other communication in another situation when it's not permitted...

Dooga

I would like to see a demo w/out a scripted conversation... Not 100% buying the demo, awesome concept thought PISSSS!!! ASSSS!!!!! GONAD BROCOLLI!!!!!

JB

That would be trouble for me. I would be walking down the street and people would be very confused at my inner dialog of "Cheese, hat, pretty birds..."

NoStyle

@stonecoldcleric:
... any the earliest precursors wore white shirts one size too large cinched in place with Windsor-knotted pink silk ties.

ANoel

Using cluster computing, the internet, (obviously getting a completely wireless anywhere solution) a database you can query that routes the problem to all existing microprocessors and you no longer have to think at all. GOOGLE IN YOUR BRAIN PEOPLE!!!! Now that would be a dot com boom!

knappoleon

National Geographic, February 12, 2457.

"Within 300 short years, the entire human race had evolved without vocal chords at all, communicating only telepathically. Interestingly, they all grew gaunt and thin, their skin turned a pale transparent blue color, and their eyes bulged and slanted dramatically. Moreover, they discovered how to travel through time in large discs so that they could visit their descendants - but this seemed to only frighten the older humanoids."

stonecoldcleric

@BlindEagle: I'd think that the impulses sent to the device would be those that would normally compose the phonemes of your language. In other word "si" would affect the vocal cords differently than "yes".

BasicBlack

@Curves:
I wish I was a somnambulist. :( I've been to several hypnotist shows and have yet to be open enough to suggestion to actually go under.

Out2gtcha

@MacBandit: Naw, this would be good for the professor. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Really depends on where this thing picks up the signal. I bet it's higher than the motor neuron, because ALS patients would be prime candidates for this device. We know he has the capability to "talk" using the computer. Those same impulses could drive this thing.

karnak

One step closer to the universal translator...you would think that they would mention that as a possible use, you know automatic translator for simple language.

BlindEagle

@maven2k:
Nice to mole you MEET YOU! MEET YOUR MOLE! MOOOOOLLLLEEEE! MOLE MOLE MOLE!

m4ximusprim3

@ANoel: Being a somnambulist, it made perfect sense to me. In fact, I nearly shot coffee out my nose laughing. (The coffee is probably why I am a somnambulist in the first place.)

Curves

@BoinK: Large rocks...

Hiphopopotamus

"I'm sorry, Captain Pike. I had my phone on vibrate."

"BEEP!"

BasicBlack

Well, at least it doesn't just blurt out what you are thinking, that could be one of those, "Did I say that out loud?", moments. But it is pretty slow to respond kind of like a slow-talker.

maven2k

@Yifkong:
Thanks, Dave. I needed that.

ANoel

Now if they can just create phone recepters that don't make sounds and just feed directly into our aural nerves. We would have literal electronic telepathy.

jetexas

@ANoel: classic joke. You've gotta replace somnambulist with insomniac for it to make sense though.

Yifkong

... you think out quiet "where is the bus station" and a moment later a voice (from the intertubes) says "I can't tell you that Dave". FTW!!!!!

God only knows why, but this reminds me of...

What do you get if you combine a dyslexic, a somambulist and an agnostic?

Someone who stays up all night wondering if there really is a Dog.

ANoel

well if I can have one that detects other peoples thoughts, now that would help me at the poker tables

greysky

Now this could change everything.

scarbrtj

@remps:

Not sure this would work for Hawking. If it would that would be very cool. I think his disease is the caused by the break down of nerve impulses from the brain to the body. So in affect no nerve impulses means no signal to translate.

MacBandit

@Curves: Hmm, would have thought -by gizmodian slobbery- that Steve spoke directly into our minds... go figure!

MarlboroTestMonkey7

Something tells me this is an elaborate marketing scheme. However, maybe now Stephen Hawking can solve that theory of everything.

remps

The big question is. Will this stop those annoying loudspeaking "hey look at me I'm having an important conversation over here!"-people from being annoying and loudspeaking?

BoinK

Why is audio misspelled? Interesting technology, very cool.

secretmanofagent

Already designed in Steve Jobs Turtleneck black.
Personally I dont think a device that says what I think BEFORE I can censor it is a good idea. A career killer.

Curves

People who read lips are so S.O.L.

adkitchen

"Damn this itches. I wonder who gave it to me. Probably that skank who needed a ride to the gas station. Last time I do somebody a favor. Oh God, they must have heard me. OH GOD, I can hear me!"

electrikecho

well, I for one think this is just a dangerous tool. specially if it gets an unlimited vocabulary.

One example, In my workplace there are some quite good looking girls. and as most guys can relate to, their mind isn't the purest of things in the world sometimes...
IF I had used this during something (cant really think of any good moment right now) and still wore it. I would probably some time get into a "angry-boyfriend-who knows-martial-arts" situation...

Thizizmyname

If you can broadcast your thoughts to another receiver I'm wondering if this technology will ever advance to the point where someone could pull the thoughts out of your head...that could make interrogations a lot more effective.

onepointbaum

"There is neither speech nor language, but their voices are heard among them." PSALM 19

oh man...

theorie