Nature: Utah-array implant turns attempted speech into a synthesised voice almost instantly

Blackrock Neurotech/Utah array / NeuroPort

Decoding 256 microelectrodes in the speech motor cortex of a man with ALS, a UC Davis team synthesised his voice almost instantly with audio feedback using machine learning. The participant could change intonation and sing short melodies, advancing toward expressive speech restoration from text-only output.

• 256-channel Utah array in speech motor cortex; 99.6% accuracy on 50-word vocabulary on first use day.
• Decoded voice synthesised in near real-time; participant could modulate intonation and sing melodies.
• Access to comprehensive 125,000-word vocabulary with word error rate consistently below 5%.