Researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a method for mobile phones to convert silent mouth movements into speech.

The technology is based on the principle of electromyography, that is the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity. This muscle activity is measured in the face and converted into speech.

We can now have secret conversations, for example conveying confidential information (like PIN numbers) in a crowded place. I figure adultery will be on the rise too, you can have all the phone sex or flirty conversations in your office or at home, without anyone noticing.

As the Institute is presenting its research at this year’s CeBIT show in Hanover, don’t expect to see this technology in a mobile phone any time soon. Meantime, businesses can come up with more creative uses for soundless calling, should it ever hit the mainstream.

[Cellular News]