We could soon be controlling
our tech with thoughts alone
The future of brain-
computer interfaces
You may already be having
basic conversations with your
smartphone, desktop PC,
games console, TV and, soon,
your car, but such voice
recognition is – in the
scientific community, at least
– firmly in a folder market
'dumb' technology.
New ways of controlling
consumer electronics goods
with both basic voice and
gestures are suddenly
common, but we could soon
be operating computers not
by barking out instructions or
waving, but purely by
thinking.
Research into the long
researched brain-computer
interface (BCI) – also known
as the 'mind-machine'
interface – is becoming so
advanced that it's set to
create a whole new symbiotic
relationship between man
and machine.
It could even lead to a
situation where speech is
rendered useless, and people
wirelessly communicate
through universal translator
chips. No more complaining
about loud music in
nightclubs, then.
Forget about the wireless
revolution – this revolutionary
tech demands cables. "A
brain-computer interface
encompasses any form of
controlling a computer via a
direct electrical connection to
the human body," says Peter
Cochrane, ex-CTO of BT and
now an independent analyst.
That connection can be any
form of nerve signal or
impulse accessed from the
surface of the human body,
including head and limbs, or
muscle impulses picked up by
electrodes on the arm, hand,
face or forehead generated
by physical movement.
Away from actually moving to
establish a link between a
person and computer, a BCI
can use either an MRI scanner
or a direct electrical
connection to the human
brain.
Mind control
If you're already thinking
about mind control, you're
not far wrong. Even the
movie Avatar, where humans
remotely piloted a genetically
engineered alien being, is
closer than you might think.
Attempting to fill the gap
between automatic vacuum
cleaners and true sentient
machines, the burgeoning
robotics industry has come
up with a product that acts
like a puppet; the prototype
TELESAR V allows a human
operator to 'bind' with it, see
what it sees, and replicate the
exact movements of a human
hand inside a sensor-filled
glove.
Described as a 'surrogate
anthropomorphic robot' and
hailing from Japan (the
Japanese Science And
Technology Agency, Keio
University and Tokyo
University, to be precise), the
human user also gets
feedback on what the robot
hand is experiencing, both in
terms of touch and
temperature.
Ideal for remotely handling
toxic substances, explosives
or investigating nuclear
accidents such as Fukushima,
the uses for this kind of
technology appear endless.
Perhaps we'll see robots like
TELESAR V perform complex
surgery where a rock-steady
hand is required, work on the
Moon, or in search and
rescue operations.
Express yourself
And yet the brain-computer
interface offers so much for
paralysed patients, such as
locked-in syndrome sufferers
and right-to-die campaigner
Tony Nicklinson, who passed
away in August. Nicklinson
operated a computer using
eye movements to
communicate, though a BCI
needs no such voluntary
movements of muscles – they
work using thoughts alone.
Clare Carmichael, a research
analyst at e-accessibility
charity AbilityNet, is working
on a BCI prototype – called
BrainAble – which has been
developed to assist people
with extreme disabilities and
locked-in syndrome.
"A BCI is a system that
enables interaction with a
computer based on changing
electrical signals that occur in
the brain," Carmichael tells us.
"The signals can be taken
invasively or non-invasively
either from inside the brain
or from the scalp. Non-
invasive BCI takes signals that
are present at micro-volt
levels on the scalp and then
amplifies them using an EEG.
These signals are then
digitised so that they can be
used by the computer."
Thinking strategies
During testing with disabled
participants in Barcelona and
in Liverpool participants use
'thinking strategies' to
produce specific electrical
activity from which data is
extracted for use by the BCI.
"So far people have been able
to communicate through a
speller, perform binary tasks
such as turning on and off a
light and a TV, changing the
channel and adjusting the
volume," says Carmichael.
"Participants have been able
to navigate a robot and
control a camera and to enter
a virtual reality that enables
them to meet and talk to
other people using
BrainAble."
"It can potentially enable
people with locked in
syndrome to communicate
and to continue to be
creative."
Brain painting
BCI products are already on
sale. Emotiv Systems sells its
EPOC neuro-headset to
gamers that read electrical
signals in the wearer's brain
to operate specific games.
Meanwhile, Austrian medical
and electrical engineering
company g.tec, which sells
the P300 speller, the intendiX,
is also working with disabled
people on brain painting.
Such tech is, for now,
concentrating on those it can
help most, but the research
will eventually trickle into
everyday use. "The BCI has
tremendous potential as a
technology and is already
used by gamers and in
extreme incident
management," says
Carmichael. "Ultimately it's
possible to think of a world
where it offers people
additional bandwidth. "I like
the idea of an as yet
unrealised future world
where I can wirelessly
communicate through my
universal translator chip …"
Cloudy days
If you like the sound of that, it
does come with a word of
warning. "BCIs will fit into the
Internet of Things by
including chips and implants
in people and animals –
everything will be connected
by default," says Cochrane,
who thinks the BCI and the
Internet of Things go hand-
in-hand.
"If your brain and nervous
system get connected onto
the net then they are
automatically a part of it – in
effect, you become your own
cloud." So next time you think
you're spending too much
time online, just remember –
this is just the beginning. http:m.techradar.com/news/computing/the-future-of-brain-computer-interfaces-revealed-1101287

I'm not surprised... The human body is too powerful.. We might never know all its abilities till the end of times.. Technology needs human energy to thrive...