Brain Controlled Computing a Reality

pchernyakov writes "Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems told attendees at the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation annual conference that a 25-year-old quadriplegic with wires run from 100 tiny sensors implanted in his brain and out to a computer can use his thoughts to control a computer well enough to operate a TV, open e-mail and play Pong with 70% accuracy."

Comments

Re:RTFA PLEASE...

[StateOfTheUnion]

Hardly true . . .scanning 100 neurons does not generate 100 degrees of freedom. That would imply that each neuron is a discrete controller that can be stimulated at will by the user. Neurons works in conjunction forming netoworks through axons and synapses and fire in combination with one another. They are not independent control elements. The user is probably firing off a pattern of neurons at a time and this pattern is picked up by the electrodes and interpreted by software. Repeatable neural patterns that are able to be produced on demand are then linked to inputs on the TV, in the pong game etc.

In fact if you had actually paid attention and thought about the article after reading it, it would be rather obvious that the quote

There are 100,000 neurons in a square millimeter of cortex. There are very precise codes in the neurons. The details matter."

Is referring to the details of neural patterns being picked up, not individual neurons. Just as the quote from the article implies, the devil is in the details.

Re:What does Captain Pike think?

[figurewmeat]

Working out the kinks is a critical step indeed. I interned at a bioengineering lab this summer, and a huge problem was just keeping channels active. The brain sloshes around inside the skull quite a bit, and to have a stiff electrode intrude on this can be problematic to say the least (if a jet pilot with an implant were to pull a few Gs I imagine some sort of self lobotomy).

Next are immune reactions to foreign objects in the body. Coatings over the electrodes can help, but are not a guarantee.

Finally, these electrode arrays are pretty large. Technology can improve this, but imagine invasive brain surgery every time you need to upgrade, or being stuck with the 1st generation mind-link ipod for life.

I'm waiting for nanomachines to solve many of these problems. When (and if) I make it to grad school perhaps they'll have it set for me... or maybe I'll volunteer as I'm never going to fly a jet.