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Try http://emotiv.com/ headset I'm sure someone could be more hands on and help write something to match her exact possibilities for communicating with this. Best of luck

This device was on a recent Ted Talk. It looks very promising and is really inexpensive. http://emotiv.com/

if she has higher brain functions then she's not a vegetable. It might take a long time but there's a chance of recovery.
The brain stem takes care of physical movements and automatic movements.
She's in a stage where she's basically paralyzed from the brain down. I'm sure there's some research and tools that can help her. Probably first problem with communication.
Here's something promising:
http://www.extremetech.com/ext...
Maybe instead of an animal a robotic prosthetic arm/hand.
There's some brain mouse thing i remember seeing:
Here's a commercial one that won't break the bank: https://www.emotiv.com/epoc/
I'm sure there are others like it. Get the communication part down first, then go from there. Don't give up hope.

There's the EPOC controller...

http://emotiv.com/epoc/feature...

Don't expect any miracles with brainwave stuff, though, it's not like in some sci-fi movie. It can be hard to train your brain to control it, and it usually takes a lot of focus to do simple tasks and may sometimes do stuff you don't want. Anything based on EEG sensors is going to be extremely coarse, reading the average output of billions of neurons at a time. But it's a possibility.

The eyegaze device mentioned below sounds like a good possibility.

Slashdot is always remarkably helpful.

There are a variety of eye trackers on the market, but those might be tiring to use. There are also some EEG devices coming out that might help you, with a bit of hacking.

Quick google search turns up:

http://mindflexgames.com/ - game from Mattel

http://interaxon.ca/products.h... - input device, doesn't look like it's available yet

http://emotiv.com/store/headse... - this one looks like the most developed. A bit expensive, of course, but nothing like a clinical EEG.

http://www.transparentcorp.com... - Some software and another device (NeuroSky).

http://harteware.blogspot.ca/2... - DIY

I can't help but think that this device would come in useful: http://www.emotiv.com/apps/epo... It seems that some software could used to map brain activity to letters if not common words (or just a pointer) to at least help her to be able to communicate with the "outside world"/

The technologies used by the researchers for recording and stimulating the brain are both well-known.

My first neurofeedback device was an OpenEEG. It ended up costing just over $300 and took about a week's worth of effort. While the end result was a functional EEG device, limited software support and hassle of use (dealing with ten20 paste, keeping electrodes in place) resulted in rare usage.

I highly recommend the MindWave Mobile as a cost effective, simple to use, and well supported EEG. Accuracy is low-moderate given that there's only a single electrode, but the device works and different states of focus are clearly captured.

For a slightly more expensive, more extensible and accurate EEG, check out the Emotiv products.

It's been done by Emotiv http://www.emotiv.com/ back in 2007, and various other companies. What is new here?

Advertising tie-in, doy.

Samsung really seems to be going for the brass ring when it comes to in-home surveillance technology...

It's been done by Emotiv http://www.emotiv.com/ back in 2007, and various other companies. What is new here?
Feels like another attempt by Samsung to do viral marketing just by associating itself to something hip.

Emotiv technology lets you game hands free (someday) http://emotiv.com/

I'm not so sure. If they could use economy of scale to get This gadget down in price and more accurate it would change the way we think about user interface design entirely. Add a pico projector to it and Android/iOS drivers, and I think you'd revolutionize mobile wearable computing entirely.

Has no one thought to give him an emotiv? It seems like he could even map out each letter or even words with one of those. http://emotiv.com/

We are colliding now with the control mechanisms of our own mind, which manifest themselves in the need to control. It's a relic from times when we had to fight for our survival. The mechanisms are needlessly defending themselves. This is a logical phase in the evolution of mind that is happening. Consumer EEG devices (like http://emotiv.com/) are slowly coming to the market, which is one indicator of where we are heading.

At the moment peaceful behaviour is forced, where as it should be the obvious way of behaving without any superficial control mechnanisms set in place. People are made docile rather than kept free.

This has already been done, and stuff like this has been out for a few years already. The Emotiv EPOC EEG headset has games on it that can be controlled with emotion and thought. FYI, Spirit Mountain: http://www.emotiv.com/store/apps/applications/117/602 It never caught on as well as the developers hoped though.

I could see this used:

- to help people move whose nerves are damaged. Combine that with mind readers (ex. Emotiv, NeuroSky) and we're part way there. We'd also need something to send feedback feeling from the severed area to the brain.

- to help prevent atrophy in people in coma by animating them. (Hmm... could it be used to animate the dead...?)

- to teach people handy skills (which is what the article suggests), remotely even.

- as material in sci-fi movies to remote control characters, either to commit heinous crimes or remote control the sub-standard hero into moving like an expert.

Any other uses?

Does that make me a fail or a win?... how about epicly in either direction?

he could try something like an Emotiv headset.
http://www.emotiv.com/

It would replace keyboard and mouse. I presume it offers HID class interface, so that it works with most applications? (would be pretty useless as an interface device if it didnt.)

Might have a steep learning curve though.

Seriously now, Emotiv Epoc is a brain machine interface. It probably would be painfully slow (like learning to be ambdextrious) but it's what I would switch to for input should I ever lose the function of my hands. http://www.emotiv.com/

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this what you are looking for?

http://www.emotiv.com/apps/sdk/179/

$500 may not be cheap but it's a lot more reachable for the hobbiest then $10k.

You're totally trolling and I should be using my points to mod you down, but instead I'll provide a different outlook for your consideration.

Many people in this country still access the internet using a dial-up 56K modem - many of _them_ are achieving only half that speed, due to physical distances and line quality. They cannot access many of the web's features in any kind of timely manner. However, I don't see a requirement in the bill for broadband access to be made available in gratis to all people regardless of creed, color, marital status or disability. In fact, providing any form of internet or multimedia access is not a requirement laid out anywhere in our laws. People of all disabilities still have to pay for their computers, pay for their internet access, and pay for everyday items to maintain their quality of life. So yes, money is a very important factor.

Innovations in multimedia have been made by consumers spending money in that segment (aka Capitalism), not by the government requiring technology companies to make devices to service a minority. If there is a gaping hole in the way information and multimedia is distributed, you would think there would be companies trying to capitalize on providing services to that minority. Because that's the way it has worked in the past. The future is going that way too, on it's own. It does not need help from soon-to-be-outdated government bills.

Almost all of the degrees of freedom come from head motion and muscle artifact. EEG is very sensitive to facial muscle artifacts, and when you actually record EEG the patients have to keep very still.

The larger problem with the Emotiv EPOC headset is that the EEG sensor locations it provides do not match up to where "real" Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) research is focused. So even if you wanted to do control by "pure thought" alone the best-known areas of the brain where these signals are located are not measurable by the Emotiv EPOC.

Electrode placement is based on an international standard called the "10-20" system:

http://www.bci2000.org/wiki/index.php/User_Tutorial:EEG_Measurement_Setup#The_10-20_International_System

Most BCI applications focus on "imagined" movements around the right arm or hand, left arm or hand, and feet. The parts of the brain which produces electrical signals when neurons related to these extremities fire are located in the C3 and C4 sections of the top of the scalp in the diagram at that URL. Another important location is the "Cz" sensor at the exact top of the crown.

Unfortunately however, the key Cz, C3, and C4 electrode locations (going by the 10-20 scale) right/left/feet motor control are not available on the Emotiv hardware. Instead their hardware provides electrodes in the following 10-20 locations:

AF3, F7, F3, FC5, T7, P7, O1, O2, P8, T8, FC6, F4, F8, AF4

My understanding, based on discussions with Emotiv, is that they designed their headset with as many unique channels of information as possible, at the best price/feature ratio, which would fit the most number of potential users in a one-size-fits-all form factor. This last restraint prevented them from Cz, C3, and C4 because the exact locations from user to user were not consistent enough to be relied upon in a consumer setting (their target market). Locations for an adult would not be the same as an adolescent user, and getting the locations lined up precisely is "too hard" for the casual or non-technical public.

So in other words, if you want as fine-grained control by thought alone as the current state of technology allows, you'll have to wait for a updated EEG headset model from Emotiv or another manufacturer - or of course learn how to build your own from the .

please flood the emotiv.com forums with requests to go open source. I would also be interested in funding a knock-off. I have manufacturing space and some hackers already on it.. but in the eternal words of Moff Jerjerrod, "I need more men."

Of course. Since it's gaming device, Linux enthusiast are their main market.

Actually, they are also targeted neuro- and psycho- scientist who might be interested in such a mass marketed, dead-cheap(*), over-simplified EEG.
The company provides SDK, which are also usable on Linux.

It's the exact same situation as with GPU, which are both consumer mass product for playing games (OpenGL & DX) *and* are interesting to scientist looking for cheap of-the-shelf parts (for OpenCL and CUDA).

(*) : The *device itself* is cheap. In order to unlock full access to all the data and let the scientist play with what they want, the free-as-in-beer SDK isn't enough and they have to pay for research SDK.
But still, the whole stuff isn't as expensive as medical-grade EEG installations.

Emotiv has developed a headset that lets you interact with the computer with your thoughts. The device is available now and doesn't require any skull drilling. For a video of a first-time user controlling an onscreen cube with their brain visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5GX8moQzOOM More details at: http://emotiv.com/

I wonder if the can be of any help.

Well, if Star Trek: The Next Generation was any indication of such issues being relevant in our world, you might want to look at some of these upcoming games and toys coming out that you play using brain waves... such as Mattel's upcoming MindFlex toy and the Emotiv Epoc headset controller for PC gaming applications.

As for addictive properties, there still needs to be some sort of "reward" system to act as feedback, like a strategic TENS unit shock into certain areas of the body that would be desirable, such as what you keep hearing stories about regarding lab animals becoming "wired" and externally controlled.

The "addiction" of games like WoW is a bit different and tends to be based almost entirely on participating as part of a "group", not unlike the awkward life of school children jockeying for recognition. If you have to question this from an ethics standpoint, then just about any situation where you are forced to compete against others to gain something would need to be questioned as well.

Which brings us to an interesting question... is the desire to live the product of addiction?

Disclosure: I am in no way associated with Emotiv

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the upcoming Emotiv EPOC:
http://emotiv.com/corporate/2_0/2_2.htm.
This is a sophisticated interface which reads both facial expressions and EEG waves. It enables simple control by thought and is able to measure the intensity of three emotions (boredom, arousal, and frustration I think). It looks amazing. It seems possible that this device could have therapeutic use, or could be used as an aid in, say, meditation. It would also be fun to do experiments on yourself (and if you are an academic on a larger sample) such as watching the emotion readings when viewing pornography or masturbating or playing video games etc.

Would having a conversation with a computer that was capable of understanding conversational english be awesome? I imagine it would be. But what would we talk about? What would I do with such a computer that I couldn't do with my current PC?

You are thinking too narrowly about "computers". I agree that talking to your desktop is largely inefficient compared to using a keyboard and mouse but natural language processing in robotics is another story.

The idea is that we may have hundreds of computers within our immediate environment all around us most of the time. See Intel's work on Claytronics http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~claytronics/ and MIT's work in robotics http://robotic.media.mit.edu/projects/projects.html. These technologies will be miniaturized and have some degree of natural language processing. Since you are not necessarily siting down at a desk with a keyboard and mouse, one of the most convenient ways of communicating with them will be through speech, gestures and eventually thoughts. Emotive and others are already making good progress in the thoughts category. http://emotiv.com/

Yeah, that'd be awesome. but that's nowhere near being on the horizon yet, and I don't know that we'll ever get there, because where's the demand for the intermediary steps that would lead us there, and what would those intermediary steps even be??

There is indeed a great demand for first generation, speech enabled robots and embedded computers. Think of the money that can be made for a robot that cleans using even a very limited amount of AI. Add in some speech recognition and I bet someone from http://store.irobot.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2804605 would be very interested in talking with you.

What is clearly evolutionary today would have been mind boggling science fiction in the 1970s.

This is true. Back in the '70s, I would probably have thought of our consumer-grade flatbed scanners as being pretty close to science fiction. And I would almost certainly have thought of "mind-reading" headsets such as these as being very nearly akin to magic.

All a matter of perception, I suppose...

Check out Emotiv. They've got a non-invasive headset with a full API that's good enough even for control of video games, among other things. I'm thinking that the "hard-wired" approach was intended to be linked to the researcher's comment of "primarily for rehabilitation", specifically, attempting to restore something that has already been physically lost.

Looks like they may be beating http://www.emotiv.com/ 's "EPOC Neuroheadset" to market by several months. The claim for the EPOC was that it would be available for the holidays at the end of 2008. Interesting that they are also planning to sell for the same $300 price as this OCZ one.

Here is their homepage: http://www.emotiv.com/

Looks like they're looking for people to test their brain control devices on...
http://www.gumtree.com.au/sydney/07/8397907.html