Honda Robot Controlled By Brain Waves

Dotnaught writes "Honda researchers to have developed a way to control robots using human brain waves. Using brain signals read from a person in a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, a robotic hand mirrored the movement of the human controller, spreading its fingers and making a 'V' sign."

Comments

It's good to see they're making progress

[something_wicked_thi]

A while back, I remember reading that someone had invented a video game that was controlled similarly, but it took a while to train yourself to "think" properly. Having the robot mirror your own movement sounds far superior. If this continues to develop, I have some hope of never developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

I've always thought...

[Temujin_12]

...that it was only a matter of time until we started to see brain-to-machine mappings for communication. The possibilities are very exciting (coding with your brain anyone?). What scares me is when efforts are taken to have machine-to-brain communication. Call me crazy, but I prefer my own synapses to be the only source of thought in my brain. I don't even want to begin to think what it could happen when the machine segfaults (or gets hacked into) while injecting thoughts into my brain.

universality?

[Red Flayer]

So, does the MRI interpreting algorithm need to be tailored to each user, or could an 'off-the-shelf' interpreter work for anyone?

While I'm sure that bloodflow signatures for physical movements are similar between individuals, is there too much variability to prevent false recognition of a 'signal'?

Any neurobiologists out there care to help out?

Re:universality?

[venicebeach]

So, does the MRI interpreting algorithm need to be tailored to each user, or could an 'off-the-shelf' interpreter work for anyone? While I'm sure that bloodflow signatures for physical movements are similar between individuals, is there too much variability to prevent false recognition of a 'signal'?

At this point, it is surprising that they can even do it for an individual (discerning among these three quite similar hand movements). I am kind of skeptical myself. There is a lot of variability in fMRI signal even within an individual. I would guess the system is trained on a specific individual.

Between individuals you have additional sources of variability; for example, the foldings of the cortex are quite different from person to person. I personally have a very unusual precentral gyrus on the left side. Activity maps are typically aligned to anatomical maps so finding correspondences between individuals has to deal with the challenges of anatomical variability.

For gross things, it can be quite obvious what the person is doing. I can tell by looking at the activations in your brain if you are looking at something versus hearing something. But looking at a duck versus looking at a cow? Much harder. Making a V-sign versus making a fist? I've never seen a paper where someone reported being able to do this. It is theoretically possible, but difficult with a blurry MRI signal that aggregates over populations of neurons. You can certainly do it if you implant electrodes into the brain. Recordings from monkey premotor cortex, for example, find neurons that fire when specific movements are made.

Re:universality?

[Chabil Ha']

It's not just the robot being able to interpret your brain waves, but your brain also adjusting to new interface as well. Take for example babies: they often don't have much control of their appendages, not just because of underdeveloped muscles, but the pathways to fine motor control have to be developed as well.

This is also demonstrated to learning to use a joystick or gamepad. Anyone new to a different kind of interface needs to make certain adjustments and brain motor connections to accommodate a new way of manipulating things. I am quite adept at FSP games on the PC, for example, but when I started playing Halo on X-Box, I was running around like a drunken sailor. Overtime, however, my hand and mind became quite accustomed to manipulating the movements on the screen. So would it be with your mind controlling the robot.

like the monkey stuff from a few years ago

[kaan]

About 3 years ago, some scientists hooked up a chimpanzee and captured brain signals to control a robotic arm. Their results were quite a bit more impressive I think, because the robotic arm had full motion control, and was physically located several hundred miles away from the chimp. But still, this stuff from Honda is cool, because it's controlled by humans using mri, not wires plugged into your brain like the monkey stuff. I just hope they don't try to put brain controller stuff in their vehicles...

Here's an article from New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4262

New meaning to telecommuting

[psyklopz]

Imagine a world where you can go hook yourself into a robotic control chamber and somewhere on the other side of the world, your robotic counterpart begins to walk around, talk, do things, all based on your brainwaves.

Meanwhile, video from teh robot's 'eye' are transmitted to a 3d viewer in front of your face.

Forget star-rek transporters. Thisi s the next best (and plausible) thing.

Very bad implications for crime and terrorism, though.

My kids couldn't ever use it.

[CFD339]

They clearly don't have enough organized brainwaves to run the lawn mower.

Kidding aside, I understand that during adolescence the brain completely reorganizes higher functions -- often shifting the center or processing for many of them to entirely different places.

Exactly how would this ASIMO++ handle that?

Oh, and what about blondes?