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

Re:Not as quick as texting...yet

[Penguinshit]

I used to use Dasher before ALS took my hands completely. It flies by way too fast and the letter choice way too "random" to be useful in the current application.

Perhaps if the sensing algorithm gets an order of magnitude faster and more precise, but in the average lifetime of a person diagnosed today with ALS or locked-in syndrome it will not happen.