Some people may find it a little silly to speak voice commands to their mobile device in public. Also, background noise and privacy issues can be an issue. French startup Wisear has developed an alternative in the form of earbuds that “read” your facial movements.
Wisear’s Perceive earbuds, or at least one of the pair, incorporates electrodes that detect electrical signals in the skin of the user’s ear canal.
These signals are intentional movements of facial muscles, accompanied by a variety of subtle movements (such as clenching the jaw) in response to various commands on a Bluetooth-linked smartphone, laptop, or VR/AR headset. Generated by Commands can consist of actions such as answering a call, playing music, or whatever the user wants.
Weiser
In the current version of the technology, the earbuds only utilize signals generated by facial movements, enabling two control functions. However, before the end of the year, Wisear plans to step it up by adding eye movements to the mix. In 2024, the company hopes to expand this technology even further by offering controls that are powered entirely by brain activity.
CEO Yacine Achiakh says Wisear is currently exploring the possibility of manufacturing the Perceive earbuds itself, as well as licensing its technology to other companies. He adds that the system could also take advantage of electrical signals generated by silently speaking voice commands, as is the case with the experimental EarCommand setup at New York University at Buffalo.
Weiser
For those interested, we can demo the prototype Perceive earbuds at CES this week. At CES, this technology won an Innovation Award.
Source: Wither
