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7h ago

AI Wearable ‘Revoice’ Reconstructs Mouthed Speech for Stroke Survivors in Early Trial

A small Nature Communications study showed high accuracy and user satisfaction, prompting plans for a larger Cambridge clinical trial.

Researchers have developed a wearable, comfortable and washable device called Revoice that could help people regain the ability to communicate naturally and fluently following a stroke, without the need for invasive brain implants. (Credit: University of Cambridge)
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Researchers have developed a wearable, comfortable and washable device called Revoice that could help people regain the ability to communicate naturally and fluently following a stroke, without the need for invasive brain implants.
Half of stroke survivors develop dysarthria in which speech becomes slurred or difficult

Overview

  • The soft, washable neck choker captures tiny throat muscle vibrations and heart‑rate signals to reconstruct words and generate fluent sentences in real time.
  • Two AI components handle silent speech decoding and interpret emotional and contextual cues, with sentence expansion triggered by a double‑nod gesture.
  • In tests with five stroke patients with dysarthria, Revoice recorded a 4.2% word error rate and a 2.9% sentence error rate, and users reported a 55% satisfaction increase.
  • The technology remains at an early stage and is not clinically available, with a larger trial for English‑speaking patients planned in Cambridge this year and goals for multilingual support and more robust emotion detection.
  • The University of Cambridge led the work with collaborators in China, funding from the British Council, Haleon, and EPSRC/UKRI, and cautious support from the Stroke Association noting the preliminary evidence.