Teen Plays Videogame With Brain Signals

SkyFire360 writes "A team of ECoG (ElectroCorticography) researchers from Washington University in St. Louis successfully wired a young man's brain up to a computer and began reading the neurological firings in his brain. After analyzing the action potentials created when a neuron fires, they were able to get two-dimensional control of a cursor. Taking the research one step further, they decided to connect an old Atari 2600 to the signal processing computer to see if the young man could control the videogame system."

Comments

Funny.

[AKAImBatman]

Space Invaders on an Atari 2600? Played with Mind Control?!? Very funny, guys.

I suppose the researchers thought it would be hi-friggin'-larious to make the Atari Mindlink a reality. That way they really COULD play games with their mind! (Insert *snickers* and *gaffaws* here.) Considering that the original was a sham (you were really moving your brow to control the game), I'm not sure they really want to be associated with such "technology".

On the other hand, I suppose they deserve some serious Geek Cred for making such an obscure reference with this experiment. Most people wouldn't "get it" anyway, and would only see the neat research going on. :P

Did they figure it out, or did he?

[Gotung]

Stories like this always make me wonder whether the people involved actually decoded the signals firing off in that guy's brain. I thinks it's more likely he learned to create the signals they were looking for.

not even close to the same but ...

[jbeaupre]

Not close to the same but a few years ago I bought a used Zenith TV with built in Pong. Great deal, but it didn't have the controllers. Rather than build them right, my brother and I stuck stereo wire into the controller ports and held the bare wire ends in our hands. By carefully squeezing and releasing we could alter the resistance through our bodies (ok, it was altering the contact resistance mostly). We didn't have much problem playing but the method was so sensitive that we had to sit completely motionless without talking. We looked like a couple of zombies playing Pong with our minds. Too bad the TV fried itself in 3 weeks.