Scientists Demonstrate Thought-Controlled Computer

Da Massive writes with a link to ComputerWorld coverage of a unique gadget shown at this past week's CeBit show. The company g.tec was showing off a brain/computer interface (BCI) in one corner of the trade hall. The rig, once placed on your head, detects the brain's voltage fluctuations and can respond appropriately. This requires training, where "the subject responds to commands on a computer screen, thinking 'left' and 'right' when they are instructed to do so ... Another test involves looking at a series of blinking letters, and thinking of a letter when it appears." Once the system is trained, you can think letters at the machine and 'type' via your thoughts. Likewise, by thinking directions you can move objects around onscreen. The article provides some background on the history of g.tec's BCI, and suggests possible uses for the technology in the near future.

Comments

Mindreading Overloads...

[TheEnlightenedOne]

I, for one, welcome our mind reading overloards!

Re:Type thoughts?

[fbartho]

meh. Do it the way you do current spell checkers. Have it learn individual letters first, and then have it pick up speed. Then have it start to learn words... say a very common, small subset. Finally, people keep their profile on a usb key and wherever they go, they bring it with them. When they reach a word the system doesn't recognize. They can just teach it that word by spelling it out, and then thinking it in some process. Finally, after teaching the system their regularly used words, over time they'll stop spelling anything at all. They can theoretically get the system to start recognizing whole sentences, especially if you can get the system to start guessing at the sentence level.

Olds?

[CheShACat]

Does no one remember the Craysoft "Thought-Pulse" joystick? This article reads just like the one printed in UK "Your Sinclair" in about 1987, announcing this exact same technology. Is it the 1st of April??? ;)