Stephen Hawking's Voice Now Available As Open Source Software

Stephen Hawking is known for his brilliant theories involving black holes, quantum mechanics ... and One Direction. He is also known for his distinctive voice.

Now Intel is making that voice available to the public for free. The technology -- called the Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit (ACAT) -- was developed over three years by Intel Labs for Hawking, who has suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) since he was 21 years old.

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Since then, it has allowed Hawking to share his views on everything from God to artificial intelligence.

Intel decided to make the source code open so that anyone with a Windows PC and a webcam (which is needed to track facial movements) can modify it to their own needs.

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"Our hope is that, by open sourcing this configurable platform, developers will continue to expand on this system by adding new user interfaces, new sensing modalities, word prediction and many other features," Sai Prasad, the ACAT project owner, wrote on Intel's website.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Related:Stephen Hawking Has a Message for Zayn Malik's One Direction Fans

Downloading the program will make it possible for anyone to speak like Stephen Hawking. Mimicking his brilliant mind, however, is still a lot more difficult.