Researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a method for mobile phones to convert silent mouth movements into speech. The technology is based on the principle of electromyography, that is the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity. This muscle activity is measured in the face and converted into speech.

An example is soundless calling.

The user can speak into the phone soundlessly, but is still understood by the conversation partner on the other end of the line. As a result, it is possible to communicate in silent environments, at the cinema or theater, without disturbing others. Another field of use is the transmission of confidential information.

For the transmission of passwords and PINs, for example, users can change seamlessly to soundless language and, hence, transmit confidential information in a tap-proof manner.

相關(guān)新聞報道（摘自博客園）

據(jù)新華社消息 德國漢諾威國際信息及通信技術(shù)博覽會2日展出一種“無聲電話”，可把嘴唇活動即時轉(zhuǎn)化為電腦發(fā)聲。使用這種電話，人們無需發(fā)聲就能讓電話另一端的人聽清說話內(nèi)容，避免喋喋不休“電話粥”打擾他人。

這種電話由德國卡爾斯魯厄技術(shù)學(xué)院研發(fā)，利用肌電描記術(shù)監(jiān)測人講話時肌肉細微活動，把它們轉(zhuǎn)化為電脈沖后變?yōu)殡娔X發(fā)聲。這一過程中，“講話者”無需發(fā)出任何聲音。

“無聲手機”用途廣泛。它可以幫助因疾病或意外失聲者與他人交流，還能讓你瞬間成為能講多國語言的“牛人”。

萬德說：“講話者在電話一端無聲地‘講’本國語言，電話另一端可以聽到經(jīng)過翻譯后的另一國語言。”

不過，眼下這種技術(shù)只適用于英語、法語和德語。研究人員希望，“無聲手機”能在5年至10年內(nèi)投入市場。