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Sending Messages With Your Brain Via EEG

Posted by timothy on from the twitter-use-officially-not-all-brainless dept.

An anonymous reader writes "From a University of Wisconsin-Madison announcement: 'In early April, Adam Wilson posted a status update on the social networking Web site Twitter — just by thinking about it. Just 23 characters long, his message, 'using EEG to send tweet,' demonstrates a natural, manageable way in which "locked-in" patients can couple brain-computer interface technologies with modern communication tools. A University of Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineering doctoral student, Wilson is among a growing group of researchers worldwide who aim to perfect a communication system for users whose bodies do not work, but whose brains function normally.' A brief rundown of the system: Users focus on a monitor displaying a keyboard; the interface measures electrical impulses in the brain to print the chosen letters one by one. Wilson compares the learning curve to texting, calling it 'kind of a slow process at first.' But even practice doesn't bring it quite up to texting speed: 'I've seen people do up to eight characters per minute,' says Wilson. See video of the system in action."

6 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. TCMP? by explosivejared · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is this anything like TCMP?

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    I got a catholic block.
  2. This may be the first time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That a brain was involved in the process of Tweeting.

  3. 8 characters a minute is excellent. by Finallyjoined!!! · · Score: 4, Funny

    Think how much more Stephen Hawking could gives us with this device.

    I know he's in the hossie at the moment and I hope he recovers fully, enough to try this device. :-)

    Send one to him. Now!

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    If I had an Ass, I'd call it Fanny Bottom, then I could slap my Ass; Fanny Bottom, on the Arse.
  4. f i r s t p o s t by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    d a m n  t h i s  t h i n g  i s  s l o w

  5. Re:Eye tracking? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

    So it wouldn't work very well for the blind and its not pulling the letters out of the brain, its just a more sophisticated eye tracking device, similar to the goggles in apache helicopters? Why not just fit patients with those for a faster input method?

    Because Apache helicopters are prohibitively expensive even for patients with the best insurance, aside from being illegal for civilians to own. Duh.

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    The enemies of Democracy are
  6. Re:Not as quick as texting...yet by johny42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder how fast he would be if he imagined a Dvorak keyboard.