How does Stephen Hawking talk?

[Quasqueton]

How does that thing work? Whenever I've seen him "speak", he doesn't seem to move. It's like the machine is reading his mind. What's the tech, and how does it work?

Quasqueton

 

[IcyCool]

How does that thing work? Whenever I've seen him "speak", he doesn't seem to move. It's like the machine is reading his mind. What's the tech, and how does it work?

Quasqueton

Sub-vocal mike picks up throat movements and a voice synthesizer. I think.

Or maybe he's a cyborg?

 

[Ilium]

Actually I think he generally prepares his speeches ahead of time by keying them in. The keying-in process, of course, doesn't use a regular keyboard. I know he used to be able to speak in such a way that people who knew him well could understand, but I don't know if that's still the case.

Oh, and by the way, Stephen Hawking rules. Chuck Norris fears only one thing, and that's Stephen Hawking's mind.

 

[Henry]

Pre-keyed, I believe.

 

[werk]

"Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen." -SH

Compliments of Wikipedia, no promises it is 100% accurate

"He gradually lost the use of his arms, legs, and voice, and is now almost completely paralysed. The computer system attached to his wheelchair is operated by Hawking via an infra-red 'blink switch' clipped onto his glasses. By scrunching his right cheek up, he is able to talk, compose speeches, research papers, browse the World Wide Web and write e-mail. The system also uses radio transmission to provide control over doors in his home and office.

He has used an electronic voice synthesizer to communicate since a tracheostomy in 1985 that followed severe pneumonia. The voice synthesizer, which has an American accent, is of a model that is no longer produced. Asked why he has still kept it after so many years, Hawking mentioned that he has not heard a voice he likes better and because he identifies with it. Hawking is said to be looking for a replacement since, other than being obsolete, the synthesizer, a DECtalk DTC01 is now considered large and fragile but as of present, finding a software alternative has been difficult. During a lecture in Hong Kong in June 2006, he joked that if he got a new one with a French accent, his wife would divorce him."

A little search on the DECtalk DTC01 relates that it is a text-to-speech converter.

 

[Quasqueton]

By scrunching his right cheek up, he is able to talk, compose speeches, research papers, browse the World Wide Web and write e-mail.

I still just can't wrap my brain around this. How long does it take to write a sentence?

This is far better than Commander Pike ever got with technology.

Quasqueton

 

[Umbran]

I still just can't wrap my brain around this. How long does it take to write a sentence?

Quite some time. He's got a well-considered setup, where the choices he's provided are sensitive to context, so that he has as few steps as possible. But still, it takes him a while

 

[Henry]

In other words, he's not only brilliant, he has the Patience of Job.

*raises a toast*

 

[Samnell]

Years ago I read somewhere that he used to navigate and select words with sensitive finger controls, but that's clearly not what's done now.

 

[Mr. Draco]

Years ago I read somewhere that he used to navigate and select words with sensitive finger controls, but that's clearly not what's done now.

Actually, I had a discussion with Stephen Hawking over lunch in Cambridge back in the summer of 2002. At least, at that time he still used a finger control. The way it works is that he had a single button which he could depress. The computer screen attached to his computer scrolls through the letters, from A to Z, when he finds the one that corresponds to the first letter of the word that he wants, he presses the button. The computer screen then starts going through words that begin with that letter. He presses again to select the word. (There may also be a few more intermediate steps to this... i.e.- selecting the second letter of the word, etc)

Holding a conversation with him is definitely possible, but takes some time and patience. That said, it's very much worth it. He writes his speeches ahead of time, so that everything's prepared when he goes on stage (I've also heard several public speeches and a private speech from Professor Hawking).

I think that more amazing than his actual ability with physics is the patience, determination, and above all, good humor that he shows, regardless of his health situation.