DARPA developing electromagnetic collars for humans

ANI | April 10 2005

If researchers at the DARPA, the US Department of Defense's research agency is to be believed, people could soon be having conversations on their mobile phones, but without uttering a sound.

The agency, is working on a project known as Advanced Speech Encoding, aimed at replacing microphones with non-acoustic sensors that detect speech via the speaker's nerve and muscle activity, rather than sound itself.

Another system, being developed for DARPA by Rick Brown of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, relies on a sensor worn around the neck called a tuned electromagnetic resonator collar (TERC).

The collar detects changes in capacitance caused by movement of the vocal cords using sensing techniques developed for magnetic resonance imaging, and is designed to allow speech to be heard above loud background noise.

The technology will be used by to soldiers on covert missions, crews in noisy vehicles or divers working underwater. However, civilians might use a refined version that can be heard in a loud bar or party.