Speech impairment is no fun, but recent advances may enable individuals with speech problems to hold complete conversations on the phone—in silence. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, located in Germany, has developed a way for phones to read lips. More specifically, electromyographic sensors are attached to a person's face to meausre the movement of his or her facial muscles related to speech. The institute says that the soundless communication "is based on the principle of electromyography, that is the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity." On the other end of the line, those movements are converted to sound. No word yet on when this technology will be available to the public.