Silent Speech Interfaces in the Era of Large Language Models: A Comprehensive Taxonomy and Systematic Review

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xu, Kele, Wang, Yifan, Feng, Ming, Xu, Qisheng, Chen, Wuyang, Dou, Yutao, Yang, Cheng, Wang, Huaimin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912963303047168
author Xu, Kele
Wang, Yifan
Feng, Ming
Xu, Qisheng
Chen, Wuyang
Dou, Yutao
Yang, Cheng
Wang, Huaimin
author_facet Xu, Kele
Wang, Yifan
Feng, Ming
Xu, Qisheng
Chen, Wuyang
Dou, Yutao
Yang, Cheng
Wang, Huaimin
contents Human-computer interaction has traditionally relied on the acoustic channel, a dependency that introduces systemic vulnerabilities to environmental noise, privacy constraints, and physiological speech impairments. Silent Speech Interfaces (SSIs) emerge as a transformative paradigm that bypasses the acoustic stage by decoding linguistic intent directly from the neuro-muscular-articulatory continuum. This review provides a high-level synthesis of the SSI landscape, transitioning from traditional transducer-centric analysis to a holistic intent-to-execution taxonomy. We systematically evaluate sensing modalities across four critical physiological interception points: neural oscillations, neuromuscular activation, articulatory kinematics (ultrasound/magnetometry), and pervasive active probing via acoustic or radio-frequency sensing. Critically, we analyze the current paradigm shift from heuristic signal processing to Latent Semantic Alignment. In this new era, Large Language Models (LLMs) and deep generative architectures serve as high-level linguistic priors to resolve the ``informational sparsity'' and non-stationarity of biosignals. By mapping fragmented physiological gestures into structured semantic latent spaces, modern SSI frameworks have, for the first time, approached the Word Error Rate usability threshold required for real-world deployment. We further examine the transition of SSIs from bulky laboratory instrumentation to ``invisible interfaces'' integrated into commodity-grade wearables, such as earables and smart glasses. Finally, we outline a strategic roadmap addressing the ``user-dependency paradox'' through self-supervised foundation models and define the ethical boundaries of ``neuro-security'' to protect cognitive liberty in an increasingly interfaced world.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_11877
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Silent Speech Interfaces in the Era of Large Language Models: A Comprehensive Taxonomy and Systematic Review
Xu, Kele
Wang, Yifan
Feng, Ming
Xu, Qisheng
Chen, Wuyang
Dou, Yutao
Yang, Cheng
Wang, Huaimin
Audio and Speech Processing
Human-computer interaction has traditionally relied on the acoustic channel, a dependency that introduces systemic vulnerabilities to environmental noise, privacy constraints, and physiological speech impairments. Silent Speech Interfaces (SSIs) emerge as a transformative paradigm that bypasses the acoustic stage by decoding linguistic intent directly from the neuro-muscular-articulatory continuum. This review provides a high-level synthesis of the SSI landscape, transitioning from traditional transducer-centric analysis to a holistic intent-to-execution taxonomy. We systematically evaluate sensing modalities across four critical physiological interception points: neural oscillations, neuromuscular activation, articulatory kinematics (ultrasound/magnetometry), and pervasive active probing via acoustic or radio-frequency sensing. Critically, we analyze the current paradigm shift from heuristic signal processing to Latent Semantic Alignment. In this new era, Large Language Models (LLMs) and deep generative architectures serve as high-level linguistic priors to resolve the ``informational sparsity'' and non-stationarity of biosignals. By mapping fragmented physiological gestures into structured semantic latent spaces, modern SSI frameworks have, for the first time, approached the Word Error Rate usability threshold required for real-world deployment. We further examine the transition of SSIs from bulky laboratory instrumentation to ``invisible interfaces'' integrated into commodity-grade wearables, such as earables and smart glasses. Finally, we outline a strategic roadmap addressing the ``user-dependency paradox'' through self-supervised foundation models and define the ethical boundaries of ``neuro-security'' to protect cognitive liberty in an increasingly interfaced world.
title Silent Speech Interfaces in the Era of Large Language Models: A Comprehensive Taxonomy and Systematic Review
topic Audio and Speech Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11877