August, 2023: ECoG (!) speech decoding (via motor—attempted speech) with 25% WER @ 78 WPM on a 1024-word vocabulary set. Also attempts synthesized speech (modest results) and avatar facial expression synthesis (usable results)
Metzger, S. L., Littlejohn, K. T., Silva, A. B., Moses, D. A., Seaton, M. P., Wang, R., Dougherty, M. E., Liu, J. R., Wu, P., Berger, M. A., Zhuravleva, I., Tu-Chan, A., Ganguly, K., Anumanchipalli, G. K., & Chang, E. F. (2023). A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control. Nature, 620(7976), 1037–1046. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06443-4
2023-01-24: Intracortical BCI using microelectrode array, attempted and internal speech. Achieved 9.1% WER on a 50 word vocabulary and 23.8% WER on 125k word vocabulary (“first successful demonstration of large-vocabulary decoding”). Decoded speech at 62 WPM. All these figures are integer-factor improvements over previous SotA.
November, 2022: intracortical BCI, internal speech (rather than mimed/attempted speech) distinguishing eight words at 91% accuracy with single neuron supramarginal gyrus electrode
Wandelt, S. K., Bjånes, D. A., Pejsa, K., Lee, B., Liu, C., & Andersen, R. A. (2022). Online internal speech decoding from single neurons in a human participant (p. 2022.11.02.22281775). medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.02.22281775
November, 2022: intracortical BCI, attempted speech in paralyzed patient, typing at 29.4 characters / minute
Metzger, S. L., Liu, J. R., Moses, D. A., Dougherty, M. E., Seaton, M. P., Littlejohn, K. T., Chartier, J., Anumanchipalli, G. K., Tu-Chan, A., Ganguly, K., & Chang, E. F. (2022). Generalizable spelling using a speech neuroprosthesis in an individual with severe limb and vocal paralysis. Nature Communications, 13(1), 6510. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33611-3
“We designed a sentence-spelling pipeline that enabled a clinical-trial participant (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT03698149) with anarthria and paralysis to silently spell out messages using signals acquired from a high-density electrocorticography (ECoG) array implanted over his sensorimotor cortex (Fig. 1)”
n.b. typical smartphone typing speed for participants’ age group is 115 characters / minute, but for 10-29 y.o. U.S. subjects is ~195, per Palin, K., Feit, A. M., Kim, S., Kristensson, P. O., & Oulasvirta, A. (2019). How do People Type on Mobile Devices?: Observations from a Study with 37,000 Volunteers. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1145/3338286.334012