Have you ever been irritated by someone sitting next to you on a train or bus by constantly chatting on their mobile? If so, there could be a solution on the way.

New technology being developed in Germany could make the silent conversation a reality, with a handset being able to lip read.

Seemingly, the device works by measuring the electrical signals produced by the muscles used for speech. Known as the Cebit, the device uses electromyography, a technique normally used to diagnose nerve damage. When used in this way it requires nine electrodes to be stuck to the user’s face.

However, by adapting this technology to mobile phones, Professor Tanja Shultz of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology hopes to develop a new type of handset that allows users to have a conversation without irritating other people around them.

In an interview with the BBC, Professor Shultz said: “I was taking the train and the person sitting next to me was constantly chatting and I thought ‘I need to change this’.”

The research to date looks promising as researchers have been able to use the new device  which can record what a person is saying, even when a people is not speaking but just mouthing the words .

While the initial idea came as a result of a normal everyday occurrence, the technology could have wider implications This could include helping people who have lost their voices to immediate language translation of a conversation.