Skepticism emerges about hardware necessity vs. software-only alternatives
8 Nov 2 9:02 PM · 9d ago · 7 comments · 1 source · development 8 of 8
Commenters questioned whether the specialized hardware is necessary given rapid advances in AI lip-reading from standard webcams, and whether future earbuds with audio-based whisper detection might achieve similar goals without new form factors.
“Aren't you worried that video to text (AI lip reading) will be good enough so it can be a software only solution with any webcam?”
eranationAarush Subvocal Company co-founderArnav Subvocal Company co-founderThe Subvocal Company Startup (YC F26)
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What people said 24 voices · best of 29 · verbatim
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I don’t want to talk to any device. Ever. Even if it’s just mouthing words and not speaking out loud. I understand that this can be an accessibility feature that some people might want or need to turn on, but it’s not a useful feature for the general population.Using your mouth to communicate is low bandwidth. I can type way faster than I can…
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> there's no way to say it nicely, I have a big nose.But there is!"Érase un hombre a una nariz pegado, érase una nariz superlativa, érase una nariz sayón y escriba, érase un peje espada muy barbado" (Francisco de Quevedo, 1580-1645)Or, as translated by Timothy Adès (https://timothyades.com/francisco-de-quevedo-1580-1645-a-una...):"There was a…
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We’d like to place a pre-order for a couple of sets right now. Could you please answer these questions:- Are you going to offer inference for free forever? Can I consider the $499 price to include this lifetime promise?- If you may charge in the future, what is the likely token cost?- Do you plan to offer a tiny model for local use, while keeping…
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Have you considered how this might benefit those who are deaf, or speech impaired? Their lip/mouth movements might be totally different to folks with hearing - but if this can be fine-tuned on an individual's specific speech pattern, then I see a huge opportunity in the accessibility market for this too.I would also attempt to patent this…
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I am 100% your target demographic. My hands are completely fried and I'm scheduled for double carpal tunnel surgeries. I am also being forced to go back to work in an open landscape office where I can't use voice dictation. A product like this is literally what I have been looking for over the past few years.With that said I live in Europe... Do…
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This is absolute mind boggling tech. I didn't read the whole article but just wanted to know if glasses are a necessity of the tech or it can be just earphones or a strap around your neck or anything that can serve the same purposeI don't need glasses and I would never use them, so if there is any other way this can be done there you would have…
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I wonder if this could be implemented with low-cost ESP32s, using the raw IQ capture path which was discovered recently [0]. This setup is capable of receiving with over 40 Mhz of bandwidth in the 2.4Ghz band.[0]
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The military was being pitched a pattented tooth clip that detects bone resonance and allows silent communication. Sub-vocal seems to point RF at the face and emit radio signals at all times - is that safe? Have you done long-term testing that it doesn't increase cancer risk or cause hearing other issues?
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The announcement says "and the glasses decode them to text at the speed of speech."From your other comments, the glasses do not decode them (that's done in the cloud) and there's noticeable delay that would prevent conversational use. Could you clarify what you meant?
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I like it a lot, but I have to ask: Is this better that speaking very quietly? For example, a lot of people "read out loud" to themselves in a very quite voice. I think it would almost seem more natural to make a very quiet sound than to have no sound at all.
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Why does hardware need to exist for this concept to be applied at the most minimal level?Couldn’t one train the mouth movement from your stander Apple MacBook m1-x built-in webcam?Feels like a much easier solution. I could try it from your landing page…
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Soon, we might be in an era where everyone wears glasses instead of keyboards in the office and quietly type away in silence Someday, a time may come when communicating through timing feels as analog, nostalgic, and romantic as looking at handwriting
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First, love it. Second, aren't you worried that video to text (AI lip reading) will be good enough so it can be a software only solution with any webcam? (e.g.
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I’ve browsed the website and read the comments and I’ve still no clue how this is supposed to work.Edit: so apparently it uses some kind of radio waves emitted from smart glasses to observe your mouth movements
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I would hope that in future this would be a part of the tech on a well-rounded pair of smart glasses which could do more than only this. Hopefully this co would be open to licensing if that's what it took.
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Congrats on the launch team. I saw the video; very cool! Have you considered other form factors? To me, it seems a bit uneccessary that I have to wear glasses; why can't they be earbuds?
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Love this! When we did classifier work on the JINS MEME smart glasses (sad to see them retired) I always wondered what it’d take to get lip-reading—glad to see y’all’ve figured it out!
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I have the opposite problem. I have a very narrow, low bridge and glasses always sit too low. Plastic frames are a no-go because the sweet spot is like an inch below my eye line.
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Hello, I really like the idea and am excited to try it out. Does it support the Arabic language? If not, is it possible to train it to do so, and what would the requirements be?
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Does this actually work. There's no way to say apple with your mouth closed. At least it doesn't feel correct. Feels like what comes out is closer to "Ethan"
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This looks incredible! Is there going to be a monthly fee? Can we run this on our own hardware with local transcription?
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It's funny, because Arnav is also the name of the engineer who built AlterEgo. Was confused for a second there
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This is super cool. No sure I would want to use it as glasses but the tech is just “wow”. Can’t wait to see v5.
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Does this meet all the SAR limits for general population RF exposure? Especially the tissue near the emitter?
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