New Electronic Device Developed to Help Mute People Talk

New Electronic Device Developed to Help Mute People Talk
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New Electronic Device Developed to Help Mute People Talk

New Electronic Device Developed to Help Mute People Talk

Two Chinese researchers have created a prototype device that can be taped to the skin to measure the motions and vibrations of the vocal cords and transform them into sounds.

The researchers also improved the device so it becomes thinner and lighter, so when attached to the neck like a temporary tattoo, it doesn't cause the wearer any discomfort, the German News Agency reported.

According to the ACS Nano journal, speech is actually a complex process that involves both motions of the mouth and vibrations of folded tissues, called vocal cords, within the throat. If the vocal cords sustain injuries or other lesions, a person can lose the ability to speak.

Researchers He Tian, Yi Yang, Tian-Ling Ren and colleagues used graphene on a thin sheet of polyvinyl alcohol film. The flexible device measured 0.6 by 1.2 inches, or about double the size of a person's thumbnail.

The researchers used water to attach the film to the skin over a volunteer's throat and connected it with electrodes to a small armband that contained a circuit board, microcomputer, power amplifier and decoder.

The Science Daily website reported that the instrument converts the throat's movements into emitted sounds, such as the words "OK" and "No."

The researchers say that, in the future, mute people could be trained to generate signals with their throats that the device would translate into speech.



Spain Foreign Tourist Numbers Break Record in Early 2025

FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
TT
20

Spain Foreign Tourist Numbers Break Record in Early 2025

FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists tour along the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) on a hot summer day in Ronda, Spain July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo

Spain welcomed a record 17 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2025 as the buoyant sector drives an economy outshining European peers, official data showed on Monday.

The 17.1 million foreign tourists arriving in Spain from January to March was a 5.7-percent increase on the same period in 2024, the National Statistics Institute said.

Britain, France and Germany supplied the most holidaymakers to the world's second most-visited country, which last year hosted a record 94 million foreign tourists seeking its sun, beaches and culture, AFP reported.

Spending by foreign tourists also climbed 7.2 percent to 23.5 billion euros ($26.7 billion), the tourism ministry said in a statement, a welcome development for the government which wants visitors to splash more cash during their stay.

The tourist sector was one of the drivers of Spain's standout growth of 3.2 percent in 2024, well above the EU figure of one percent.

But the bonanza has sparked a growing backlash among locals who complain that an unsustainable influx of foreign visitors is driving up rents, saturating infrastructure and changing the fabric of neighborhoods.

Spain aims to "diversify" destinations, make the sector less dependent on key seasons and "share out the benefits" across the country, Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu said in a statement.