Neuroscientist Philip Low is attempting to use his iBrain single-channel EEG recording device to help Stephen Hawking communicate by just thinking.

“The idea is to see if Stephen can use his mind to create a consistent and repeatable pattern that a computer can translate into, say, a word or letter or a command for a computer,” he said.

Low’s company, NeuroVigil, plans to repeat the study in large populations of patients with ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.