Chapter 10, Section 10: The first time they contacted me, I wasn't dating anyone else...
Liang Siyu stared at the email title with mixed feelings: “sEMG-Based MU Drive – Early Discussion”.
It turned out that she wanted to discuss a research project with him.
He deflated immediately, slumped into the sofa, and had no desire to open the attachment.
During this holiday, because he was worried about her, he spent most of his time rereading the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) to try to make a preliminary judgment about what was wrong with her. His mind was not on the research project at all.
Why did Ada suddenly become interested in surface electromyography? Could it be that there has been some major progress in just two weeks, and he missed it?
Probably not. A paper of this caliber would go viral on his social media.
"Ring," the computer and phone rang simultaneously; it was a video call from Ada.
After the call connected, he saw the girl he had been longing for—she had dark circles under her eyes, but her eyes were as bright as searchlights, and she spoke very quickly.
"Ned, did you receive my email? Open the document, and I'll quickly go through it with you. Listen to whether it's feasible."
Xu Aida was very clear that this direction was absolutely feasible, because it was part of her doctoral dissertation in her previous life.
When she first started working on it, it was a niche area, but it later became one of the mainstream algorithms, winning several best paper awards and earning her early professional reputation.
In this life, she plans to change her path ahead of time and invite him to be her coauthor.
Liang Siyu's heart sank; he knew her too well.
She spoke modestly, but her expression was extremely confident; her eyes and brows seemed to say, "I have a brilliant idea, and you'd better follow my train of thought."
He had always thought this side of her was cute, confident, and charming, but now he was a little apprehensive.
This performance is exactly what DSM-5 describes as the "hypomanic phase".
They rest less but are highly energetic, speaking at a significantly faster pace; they are proactive and exhibit more goal-oriented behavior; they are overconfident and propose plans that far exceed the norm.
JHU is the headquarters of invasive electrodes. Surgical implantation reaches deep into the nerve layer, providing clear interpretation of motor intentions, high signal accuracy, and low latency.
Of course, there are also significant drawbacks: the surgery is complex, the cost is high, and patient acceptance is low.
However, this has also become their barrier. JHU has top-notch neurosurgery in the United States. They dare to perform highly difficult surgeries and can win the trust of patients, which others may not be able to do.
Ada's proposed surface electromyography (EMG) uses non-invasive electrodes that are attached to the skin surface, relying solely on superficial muscle electrical signals to interpret complex motor intentions.
The signal is noisy and has low resolution. A few scholars are working on it, but the results are not good.
Liang Siyu has always believed that among his peers, Ada is clearly among the top tier of intelligence, and he is no match for her in terms of IQ.
But neuroprosthetics is an interdisciplinary project, and he suspects that she doesn't fully understand the physiological limitations of neural signals, which is why she came up with this idea.
He interrupted her: "Ada, how have you been these past few days? Have you been getting enough rest?"
She waved her hand impatiently: "I'm fine. Don't worry about these trivial matters. Focus on the important issues first."
He wanted to say that this was no small matter, that her mental state wasn't right, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, and could only look at her with concern.
Xu Aida noticed his hesitation. Was he expecting her to clarify their relationship?
She scratched her head: "Ned, I haven't thought things through between us yet, but I won't date anyone else, and you shouldn't either, is that okay?"
She did try to think about it, but didn't know what to do, so she decided that instead of overthinking, she should focus on her work.
She even fantasized about whether she could wait until he changed careers. Anyway, it would only be a little over a year, and then she could just play it by ear.
This promise was, at this moment, a small reassurance for Liang Siyu.
He had always worried that she might fall into someone else's arms, and that he might lose her at any moment. Her words at least put his mind at ease.
He took a deep breath: "Of course, I only love you, you believe me."
They looked at each other for a moment, then she lowered her head and took a sip of her coffee: "Alright, can we get down to business now?"
Liang Siyu tried to concentrate as she explained her new idea.
“I know you may think that non-invasive electrodes have many problems. But Ned, I need you to put aside your MD pride for a while and consider the choice of research strategy from a holistic perspective.”
“Non-invasive methods have two key advantages, and if we look at it over a ten-year period, they could very well rival invasive methods.”
This opening statement took him by surprise—it wasn't from the perspective of an ordinary doctoral student, but rather from the judgment of a PI (Principal Investigator).
"First, it can bypass animal testing and collect human data directly. You're an MD, so you know how many animal test results simply can't be replicated on humans."
Several cases flashed before Liang Siyu's eyes. One of them was a project he had witnessed firsthand, which did not appear in textbooks. The animal data was "perfect," and a very good paper was published, but that was all. It could not be verified on humans, and it could not be further advanced.
"Second, algorithms require a large amount of data for training. Non-intrusive systems can collect dozens of rounds of data per week, enabling rapid verification and rapid iteration."
He sighed, his eyes filled with mixed emotions—admiration and hesitation. The thinking was clear: trade speed for precision—a typical Silicon Valley agile mindset.
She wasn't considering a particular technical detail, but rather a strategic choice of technological path.
He had previously assumed that JHU's consensus was the optimal technical path, but her reasoning was also very tempting.
“That makes some sense. But… we still need to think about graduation, right?” He smiled and steered the conversation back to the technical implementation.
Hsu Ai-ta was not surprised at all: "Look at page three. We start with typical muscles and basic movements, such as the forearm muscle groups and grasping movements. The muscle structure is simple and the movement pattern is clear, which is suitable for surface electromyography signal acquisition."
She smiled slightly and said, "You know more about this than I do. You list the target muscle groups and movements for the initial experiments, and then consider expanding the complex movements for the next stage."
"Sure, this will be quick." He remembered a few good papers.
"On page four, there are commonly used algorithm references. I've already prepared the code, and we'll use it for baseline comparisons later," she continued.
She's actually gone this far? She probably didn't get much rest during her vacation.
He stared at the table she had summarized: "These indicators are far from ideal. How do you plan to address the issues of noise interference and overlapping motion units?"
She said calmly, "I plan to skip the traditional decomposition path and not do precise inversion."
"For me, the control interface is the primary goal, so I'll start with MUAP template matching. The initial objective is simple: to achieve real-time control..."
Liang Siyu narrowed her eyes, revealing her boldness and unconventionality in her specific technical approach.
Every movement of a neuroprosthetic requires the direction of motor nerve signals from the patient.
After the electrodes are attached, the instrument can detect many signals, just like a secret agent eavesdropping outside the door, where you can hear many people talking at the same time.
The problem is, how do we determine which action each of these conflicting voices corresponds to?
The current mainstream approach is "precise inversion" and "path decomposition," which means figuring out exactly what each person in the room said, separating out the specific instructions, and then determining which muscle should do what action.
Ada's method, on the other hand, is very simple and straightforward: since the signal quality of surface electromyography is limited, she gave up listening to "what each person specifically said" and only focused on "whether anyone spoke" and "who was speaking".
She considers the intention strongest whenever "someone" speaks repeatedly, and uses it to drive the prosthetic limb to complete the action.
This approach does not pursue principles but emphasizes current usability, which is typical of engineer thinking.
As a doctoral student in cognitive neuroscience, he should have felt that the dignity of the discipline was being challenged, but at this moment, he somewhat understood her.
For difficult problems, there's no need to solve them all at once. You can first come up with a "relatively feasible" solution and then gradually improve it.
He nodded to her and said, "Wait a moment, let me look at the specific plan."
He quickly scanned the goals she listed: "Complete real-time algorithm control." Hmm, feasible. The computational load isn't too large. The key is whether the latency can be shortened.
"Shorten the time window and combine feature extraction and template matching to extract 15-20 MUAPs."
He frowned slightly. 15-20? She was using surface muscle electrical signals. In his memory, current mainstream algorithms could only decompose them into about 10.
This goal presents a significant challenge to the algorithm.
He looked up at the camera, and she smiled: "Ned, want to join?"
He laughed too: "Why not?"
This approach is typical of Silicon Valley: highly agile, short-cycle, and very pragmatic. Initial validation is quick and doesn't take up too much time.
Xu Aida was instantly happy; she knew Ned would understand her.
In JHU, the stronghold of invasive electrodes and "reductionism," he was a rare open-minded guy.
Liang Siyu quickly began planning a solution. This research didn't require high-end hardware; his father's rehabilitation hospital had several Bagnoli signal acquisition systems, so they could try collecting data on themselves first.
To be even more optimistic, if the initial model works, he can persuade his advisor to recruit volunteers in New York, in addition to JHU-affiliated hospitals, to expand the amount of data.
After listening, Hsu Ai-ta said that once the verification is successful, she will communicate with her supervisor about funding support.
“Our engineering school’s NIH-funded projects do not restrict electrode types, making them a better fit than medical school’s programs.”
As for the "rehabilitation hospital" idea, she hadn't thought about it yet. She had originally planned to go to Berkeley next week to borrow a friend's lab to try data collection on herself.
After hearing his story, she suddenly felt a little dazed. If he hadn't changed careers in her past life, and they had worked on this project together, data acquisition would have been so much easier.
Her father, Richard, ran a small rehabilitation hospital in New York, but she never thought of seeking cooperation and help.
That year, he suddenly changed careers and went to Los Angeles to film. His mother, Claudia, even made a special trip from New York to JHU to visit him twice, saying, "Contact us anytime if you need anything."
However, she has always been independent and rarely makes any extra demands when she is with him, let alone when facing his parents.
He clearly has great talent and readily available resources; yet he can throw away all of these conditions that others can only dream of.
Perhaps it was his family that gave him confidence. She remembered that one Christmas, as she went downstairs, she overheard his father, Richard, saying to his mother that he just hoped Ned would be happy.
She sighed softly and asked before hanging up the video call, "Ned, are you really happy to talk about this?"
He smiled gently and brightly: "Of course, I'm very happy."
It feels amazing to stand alongside her at the forefront of technology, challenge established frameworks, and explore a new path full of possibilities!
Most importantly, she was clear-headed and emotionally stable during the conversation, which at least put him at ease. He could continue to observe her and see if it was just a single nightmare stressor and that he was overthinking it.
She forced a smile. That's good. At least for now, he's happy doing scientific research.
She wasn't sure if he would still remember this happiness at this time next year.
Perhaps then, he will finally discover that what truly brings him joy is the camera lens, not the cold laboratory.
And she should still be able to happily wish him well. She told herself that she had already done it in her past life, so doing it again wouldn't be so difficult. She couldn't stop him from finding himself.
Xu Aida ended her vacation on January 3rd and flew from San Jose to New York.
In preparation for this flight, she underwent psychological counseling, mastered various relaxation techniques, and successfully forced herself to board the plane.
But the flashbacks of the plane crash during landing nearly broke her down.
When Liang Siyu picked her up at JFK Airport, her face was deathly pale, and she looked like she might faint at any moment. She was completely different from the girl in the video who was excitedly talking about the new algorithm.
"Did you have another nightmare?" He hugged her tenderly.
"No." She shook her head, pushed him away, and sat on an airport chair for a while.
That means the nightmare of the plane crash in Seattle was so terrifying that it caused acute trauma. The fact that she's feeling so unwell today must mean she had another stress reaction.
She recovered and got up on her own, but her steps were clearly unsteady.
He reached out his arm for her to help him up: "Ada, don't do this, I won't force you."
"Ned, this is not your problem."
She shook her head bitterly. He was fine now, but she had experienced the future.
He drove her to the hotel. New York traffic was terrible, and her complexion never recovered. She kept pressing her chest, whether from nausea or shortness of breath, it was hard to tell.
After finally arriving at the hotel in the Upper West Side, he threw the car keys to the valet, ignored her protests, picked her up, and carried her back to her room.
"Rest for a bit." He gently laid her back on the bed. "Would you like some hot chocolate?"
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she nodded.
Liang Siyu crossed several blocks and arrived home in ten minutes. He hurriedly went straight to the kitchen to make French hot chocolate.
As Claudia came downstairs, she smelled a familiar aroma in the air: "Ned? Why did you suddenly want hot chocolate?"
Liang Siyu was pouring hot chocolate into a takeaway cup and carefully screwing on the lid.
Claudia was taken aback: "You're going out?" And you even went out of your way to bring hot chocolate. It seems the classmate Ned picked up from the airport today was that girl.
He nodded: "Mom, I'll eat out for dinner."
Claudia reminded him, "Ned, why don't you go to the coffee shop and buy another cup? You can share different flavors."
He laughed: "Mom, no need, I won't drink it myself."
He strode away, giving her no chance to remind him again.
Claudia sighed. Oh well, he'll know once he tries. That silly boy, he actually forgot that French hot chocolate must be drunk while it's hot.
Liang Siyu quickly realized his mistake. When he brought the hot chocolate to his hotel room, he discovered that a thin film had formed on the surface of the chocolate, and the entire texture had turned into an unsightly paste.
Xu Aida looked at his pale face and the solidified French hot chocolate on the surface, and couldn't help but laugh.
He immediately stood up: "Don't drink this, I'll go downstairs to the coffee shop and buy a cup."
He finally understood what his mother meant. Couldn't she have just said it directly? She was being far too tactful!
She looked up at him and comforted him, "It's okay, I'll just have a bite."
She took a spoonful; the chocolate flavor was rich, but unfortunately it was cold. It didn't taste as good as the first time she tasted it in her past life, when it was Christmas and they were snuggling together on the sofa.
She lowered her head slightly, a hint of bitter dark chocolate in her mouth, somewhat like the current state of them. They were once a perfect match, but unfortunately, the timing wasn't right.
Liang Siyu stared at the small spoon in her hand and the chocolate on her lips, his heart burning with desire.
Although he was annoyed that he had done something foolish again today, he was eagerly looking forward to the next two weeks.
She arrived in New York ahead of time, and they worked together on their "secret project"—it couldn't be more perfect.
A note from the author:
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