It sounds like something from a science fiction movie: Sensors are surgically inserted in the brain to understand what you're thinking. Machines that can speak, move or process information — based on the fleeting thoughts in a person's imagination. But it's not completely fictional. The technology is out there. A researcher in Wisconsin recently announced the ability to ‘think’ updates onto the Twitter website. Locally, researchers at Washington University have developed even deeper ways of tying humans and computers together. The main idea is to connect people with devices and machines through their thoughts directly. The research is a component of Brain-Computer Interface Technology, which decodes brainwaves in a certain part of the brain. Computers are then programmed to understand those signals and perform an action accordingly. But so far, only signals for imagined actions have been decoded. Moving on to decoding speech will make communication to computers from the mind easier. Ultimately, the technology will better connect humans and machines. For those with disabilities, it will connect them more closely to the world. In the past, researchers used the technology to develop video games that can be played with the mind. Players control the game by imagining an action.
For example, imagining the movement of the left hand may mean moving left, whereas imagining the movement of the tongue may mean to move up. The Space Invaders video game has been tested on only 15-20 people so far because the sensors that read those brain signals go directly on or in the brain through surgery. Because patient testing would require surgery, children with epilepsy are given the chance to participate because they already have similar equipment placed in their brains that also locate electric signals in the brain. Since the introduction of BCI technology in the late 1980s, researchers have been thinking of practical applications for BCI technology though they are still in the process of making them available. Research that will give people better control of prosthetic limbs is being conducted at Washington University's Computer Engineering Department. Smart said this application of BCI technology would be available in about 10 years and would allow people with prosthetic arms to better grasp items. Researchers are still attacking some obstacles in their research. For example they needed to make the implant in the brain much smaller. Researchers also have to figure out how to teach caretakers to use the system and get the cost down. The equipment used in labs currently costs tens of thousands of dollars.
More information:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/D8AE00548427D1F4862575EB0003BBD6?OpenDocument
For example, imagining the movement of the left hand may mean moving left, whereas imagining the movement of the tongue may mean to move up. The Space Invaders video game has been tested on only 15-20 people so far because the sensors that read those brain signals go directly on or in the brain through surgery. Because patient testing would require surgery, children with epilepsy are given the chance to participate because they already have similar equipment placed in their brains that also locate electric signals in the brain. Since the introduction of BCI technology in the late 1980s, researchers have been thinking of practical applications for BCI technology though they are still in the process of making them available. Research that will give people better control of prosthetic limbs is being conducted at Washington University's Computer Engineering Department. Smart said this application of BCI technology would be available in about 10 years and would allow people with prosthetic arms to better grasp items. Researchers are still attacking some obstacles in their research. For example they needed to make the implant in the brain much smaller. Researchers also have to figure out how to teach caretakers to use the system and get the cost down. The equipment used in labs currently costs tens of thousands of dollars.More information:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/D8AE00548427D1F4862575EB0003BBD6?OpenDocument