When you speak in a dream, tiny muscular tremors occur in your vocal muscles. I believe it would be possible to detect these, and convert to speech, which you could tape for later review. Some related work has been done for people who lack vocal cords but still have associated nerves, I believe.
-- pfperry, Aug 12 2002

You'd probably need a collar with an array of electrodes embedded in it, connected to a multichannel myoelectric analyser - a modified electrocardiograph front end would probably do. Then you'd have to analyse the neural activity associated with normal speech and speech sounds - then you could deduce the intent of the subvocalisation by comparing it with a template.

I don't know if this has been tried or not, but croissant anyway for an interesting idea.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 12 2002


I was expecting to read about a speaker which plays back prerecorded messages during REM sleep, hopefully to induce dreams of a certain nature.. I see this works in the reverse fashion. You get a biscuit for this one!
-- Mr Burns, Aug 12 2002


it might be an idea if married couples avoid this one like the plague. <"who's Mel?">
-- po, Aug 12 2002


Good idea, though (by all accounts) what I say while I'm asleep makes virtually no sense at all.

To be able to convert the signals into speech, you'd also need information from the tongue and lips. Is there any indication as to whether these also tremor?
-- -alx, Aug 12 2002


A simultaneous check of the eyes would show, from the angle, to whom you are talking.
-- FarmerJohn, Aug 12 2002


I was working with magnetic resonance for some years ago. On a hospital they asked a testperson to think of sex while beeing scanned.(in a dark room) Becouse of the active parts in brain is needing more blood and becouse of the fact that blood is containing Iron it was possible to find out ver sex centrum is. Jonas
-- Jonas, Aug 23 2002


blimey! is that true?
-- po, Aug 23 2002


Mmm
-- DesertFox, Sep 19 2005



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