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Guide dog 2.0: This robot talks and guides you to your destination
by Kim Muntinga
This cap is designed to turn thoughts into text
20.4.2026
Translation: machine translated
Silicon Valley start-up Sabi wants to launch a knitted hat this year that turns inner speech into text.
You're sitting in a meeting, have an idea and type it up before you forget it. Sabi wants to make this step superfluous. The Californian start-up is developing a knitted hat that translates your inner monologue directly into text.
What sounds like science fiction is actually based on well-known medical technology. Sabi uses electroencephalography, or EEG for short, to measure electrical signals from the brain. What is new is the implementation. Instead of a bulky headset or an implanted chip, a beanie suitable for everyday use that you put on like any other item of clothing should suffice.
Source: Sabi
The so-called Sabi Cap is a non-invasive brain-computer interface. It is designed to recognise which words you formulate internally and output them as text. This does not mean random thoughts, but consciously thought language.
Brain signals instead of a keyboard
According to the company, tens of thousands of tiny sensors are located inside the cap. They are located directly on the scalp and record electrical activity in the brain. Sabi speaks of 70,000 to 100,000 sensors. This means that the sensor density is significantly higher than with classic EEG systems, which usually work with a few dozen to a few hundred electrodes.
Source: Sabi
The reason for this effort lies in a fundamental problem of non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCI). The signals have to penetrate the skin and skull bone and arrive at a correspondingly weakened level. Implanted systems such as Neuralink have physical advantages because their electrodes are closer to the nerve cells. However, they require a surgical procedure.
AI should recognise inner speech
Hardware alone is not enough. The measured raw data cannot be translated directly into words. Sabi therefore relies on an AI model that links brain signals with thought language. The company calls it «Brain Foundation Model».
According to Sabi, the model was trained with around 100,000 hours of brain data from around 100 volunteers. The aim is to recognise general patterns of inner speech that can be transferred to many users. This is crucial because brains work individually. Even if two people formulate the same sentence internally, they do not produce exactly the same signals.
Existing systems therefore often have to be trained for individual people. This would be impractical for a consumer product. Sabi promises that the cap will work without daily recalibration.
Writing at around 30 words per minute
At launch, the company expects a writing speed of around 30 words per minute. This is slower than most people type, but is in a range that could be sufficient for short texts, chats or notes. According to company boss Rahul Chhabra, the speed should increase as employees work with the cap for longer and the system recognises their individual patterns better.
In the long term, Sabi sees the cap not only as a replacement for the keyboard, but also as a controller for software, devices or AI agents. For example, simple control signals could be used to operate software or trigger actions, similar to today's assistance systems, but without spoken commands. So far, the start-up has hardly mentioned any specific functions beyond text input.
Suitable for everyday use or a laboratory project?
The big advantage of Sabi's approach is the low barrier to entry. You don't need an operation or a medical implant, just a head covering. This makes the idea more suitable for the masses than invasive systems.
It remains to be seen how reliably the technology works outside of controlled environments. EEG measurements are sensitive to movement, muscle activity, fit and disturbances. The goals are ambitious, but have so far been based primarily on company statements. Independent everyday tests are still pending.
The topic of data protection has also not yet been clarified. Brain data is considered particularly sensitive. Sabi emphasises that the data is encrypted and processed securely, but has so far left many details open. These issues are likely to become more of a focus when the product is launched on the market at the latest.
Market launch still open
Sabi is planning to launch the first version of the beanie on the market this year. In addition to the knitted hat, the company is also working on a baseball cap version. Sabi has not yet announced a price.
Source: Sabi
Header image: Sabi
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