In 2005, a rare brainstem stroke robbed Ann Johnson of her ability to speak at age 30. The mother of two from Saskatchewan hasn’t been able to communicate naturally with her loved ones ever since.
The researchers attached a thin grid of electrodes to the surface of her brain through surgery. It covered the area vital to speech and was connected by a wire to computers trained to decode her brain activity and not only generate text, but also speech and facial expressions. “You are right about that. I guess we’ll see won’t we,” said Johnson silently turning to her husband and smiling.Researchers used audio from a speech she gave at her wedding prior to the stroke to train a computer to synthesize her voice. She has said it’s like hearing an old friend.