Silent Speech Wearable Control With Gaze-Directed Audio Selection

The patent replaces traditional acoustic microphones with a laser-based detection system. A laser beam is directed at the user's throat area, and vibrations of the throat tissues during silent speech are detected through laser Doppler vibrometry. This optical/mechanical detection method substitutes the acoustic field-based microphone approach, enabling detection of silent speech vibrations without requiring audible sound waves, thus maintaining privacy while enabling speech recognition.

The patent replaces manual or ocular mechanical gesture systems with a physiological vibration-based detection system. Instead of requiring users to perform deliberate hand movements or eye gestures, the system detects natural throat vibrations that occur during silent speech. This substitution eliminates the need for strained or socially awkward gestures while maintaining privacy, as the detection occurs through laser vibrometry of internal throat tissue movements rather than external acoustic signals.

The patent replaces acoustic field-based speech detection with direct mechanical vibration detection of throat tissues. By using laser Doppler vibrometry to detect the physical vibrations of the throat during speech production, the system bypasses the noisy acoustic environment entirely. The laser detects vibrations at the source (throat tissues) rather than picking up sound waves that have propagated through the noisy air, thus maintaining high reliability in noisy environments while preserving communication capability.