Sending Messages With Your Brain Via EEG

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."

Comments

The website for the lab...

[Saint Aardvark]

...can be found here:

http://nitrolab.engr.wisc.edu/

Re:8 characters a minute is excellent.

[Penguinshit]

Professor Hawking uses a more sophisticated system with word-prediction and a micro-switch activated by a slight motion of his shoulder. he can do much better than 8 cpm. I use a similar system but use eye gaze on a virtual keyboard rather than a sectoring keyboard.

Perhaps he's more accustomed to the sectoring keyboard or no longer has the ocular control for the eye gaze system.