Telepathy is, until proven the opposite, always of science fiction. But a new laptop announced this week aims to bring the world closer to silent communication, although it is more to use the brain signals than the X-Men superpower.
Alterego, developed by MIT Media Lab, is a peripheral neural interface which allows us to converse with machines, artificial intelligence assistants and humans, without using our voice or observable movements outside.
We saw the Alterego for the first time as a prototype in 2018. It is a laptop that got attached to your face your ear to your chin. Since then, it has become considerably smaller and has won more capacities.
The device works by detecting the signals that the brain sends before speaking out loud. Propelled by a technology called Silent Sense, the new laptop can detect the full speech of speech by its carrier, including when implementing words or intention to speak. Alterego’s generative artificial intelligence then responds, and these communications are sent to the user via a bone conduction speaker.
Although it cannot capture the reflection, the company describes Alterego as “the first quasi-timepathy laptop in the world which allows silent communication at the speed of thought”. It is not a telepathy, but by interpreting your inner voice, it is a step towards speech without speaking.
Presentation of Alterego: the first quasi-timepathy laptop in the world which allows silent communication at the speed of thought.
Alterego makes AI an extension of the human mind.
We have done several breakthroughs since the start of our work at the MIT.
We are announcing those today. pic.twitter.com/kx5mxuibak– alterego (@alterego_io) September 8, 2025
Alterego has an integrated camera system that will allow you to point to something you see and ask yourself in silence. In a demonstration video, CEO Arnav Kapur turns the face of a character on a postcard, asks who he is (not to mention) and receives an answer with the details of the character.
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You can also use the laptop to define reminders, control your hand -free and type, just as fast as you can think.
It becomes even more interesting when two different people carry the device. You can hold silent conversations with each other, and even have your message translated into another language for the receiver. Since Alterego uses your brain signals and mouth movements to detect what you mean, communication is not affected by sounds or external movements.
The device could also prove to be a huge medical victory, as it can restore discourse to those who have lost it due to a disease or other deficiencies.
Alterego thinks that this is only the beginning and that it is “to build a future where humans and AI collaborate at the speed of thought, to fill the gap between the Spirit and the Machine”.
You can register for early access when the laptop is available on alterego.io.
