It's the dream of many users to
control one's computer by simply thinking at it. Now, thanks to a team in New
York City, that dream is closer to reality. A Brooklyn, based pair pooled their
resources to launch the OpenBCI project. Their mission: to create an affordable
EEG-reading headset device that allows access to high-quality, raw EEG data
with minimal power consumption but forsaking the use of any blackbox algorithms
or proprietary hardware designs. Rather than try to get a company to invest in
making OpenBCI a reality, they've elected instead to sponsor the large-scale manufacture
of production-quality OpenBCI units through a Kickstarter project. The project
was launched with a $100,000 goal. If the project reaches $150,000 in
donations, an accelerometer will be added as a standard element to every
OpenBCI board. The OpenBCI controller uses the Texas Instruments ADS1299 Analog
Front End IC, and the open source software used to drive the board will be
available with interfaces for multiple languages and a number of existing open
source EEG signal processing applications.
Another key part of the project
is how the headgear -- which is worn by the user to place the electrodes
against the skull -- is an open design, and it can be configured on a per-user basis.
Two previous iterations of the OpenBCI board have already been developed and
made into prototypes, which connect to the Arduino hobby computer. The first
iteration was unveiled in September 2013 at Maker Faire NYC; the second, a
factory prototype, was released two months later. The third version, which
includes Bluetooth LE connectivity and a number of other improvements, is set
to be released sometime around April 2014. Using the brain to control a PC is
still very much a prototypical technology, but is shaping up in fits and
starts. Back in 2008, quadriplegics could use a brain interface to move an
onscreen cursor without lifting a finger. As of 2011, Japanese government
researchers had developed a wheelchair that could be controlled with thought. The
company Guger Technologies created a thought-typing system, which allows a user
to type by simply thinking about the letters they want to use.
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