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Research Lets You Type Words By Thought Alone

Posted by StoneLion on from the put-on-your-thinking-cap dept.

An anonymous reader writes "How about typing on a computer just by thinking about it? The downside is you have to wear a skull cap with electrodes that capture your brain waves like an EEG machine. According to this EE Times story, a team of researchers from Belgium and the Netherlands has presented Mind Speller, a thought-to-text device intended to help people with movement disabilities. The system does rely on a lot of processing on a remote computer, but it is a wireless system. And these thought-to-computer systems have wider applicability than medical support. One of the research groups involved in this development has already looked at wireless electroencephalography (EEG) to enable measures of emotion to be fed back into computer games."

19 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting. by clone53421 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The last article that was posted was only about typing individual letters, and of course people were quick to say how useless that was: slow and impractical.

    And of course the researchers thought so too, which was fine because the technology isn’t done yet.

    --
    Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    1. Re:Interesting. by FuckingNickName · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Thought reading devices are the second most hyped technology I've ever read about.

      (As quantum computing is the second most hyped area of computer science.

      (Do thoughts exist before or after your consciousness has observed them?)
      )

    2. Re:Interesting. by captaindomon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People won't think it is slow and impractical if they have suffered total paralysis for some reason, and this is their first chance to communicate with the outside world and loved ones. Sure, I'm not going to use it for replacing my keyboard any time soon, but this technology in the right setting will seem so incredibly miraculous it will change people's lives.

      --
      Just because I can hook a shark from a boat, I do no offer to wrestle it in the water.
    3. Re:Interesting. by ircmaxell · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That could get VERY dangerous... Just imagine if you thought something along the lines of "I'd love to just ram it in her ass". Just remember, it's all fun and games until someone gets a prolapsed rectum...

      --
      If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
    4. Re:Interesting. by joeyblades · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not to worry, it doesn't actually process thought. It just capitalizes on your brain's ability to create certain repeatable patterns. Then you train the device to recognize those patterns. It's a far cry from reading thoughts. In fact, it's much closer to typing... just without using your fingers

    5. Re:Interesting. by CorporateSuit · · Score: 2, Funny

      According to most Web2.0 internet users, ANYTHING that requires thought for input would be considered "useless, slow, and impractial" :)

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
  2. Cool tech by Anarki2004 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I really think this is an amazing bit of technology, I'm just afraid of what it could potentially be turned into. This is not something I would want law enforcement to start practicing. OTOH, it seems to have the potential to help a great deal of people too, so guess you have to take the good with the bad.

    --
    The teachers will crack any minute, purple monkey dishwasher.
  3. Re:Horrible horrible idea... by sunderland56 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, every time my boss drops by, my browser immediately goes to getoutofmyofficeyoumoron.com.

  4. Multilingual by Wowsers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You better not be multilingual, you get stuck on a word in one language, and your thoughts on "oh damn, what's that word, sounds like whatever" gets put into your document as you're trying to remember the damn word you wanted.

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
  5. I not so sure about this... by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't this work a lot like the canine speech synthesizers in "Up", except instead of suddenly going "Squirrel!", it goes "Tits!" all the time?

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:I not so sure about this... by Rogerborg · · Score: 3, Funny

      Only if the subject is stationary. In a walkby, you'd get a Doppler effect:

      tits tits tits tits tits tits TITS! TITS! ASS! ASS! ass ass ass ass ass ass

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  6. God help those with ADHD. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I really don't think that shit minimize slashdot, boss No i was just working on that TPS Report you wante ok, gone this technology has too much use beyond drop the pencil drop the pencil the physically impairedPERIOD bend at the hips bend at the hips I'm sure that Hawking would love to be able to http://www.engadget.com/ Sweet! new Android phone I wonder if I should switch. http://verizon.com damn nothing is affordable http://att.com Damn it. WTF. Why do we get raped on these prices ALT-TAB Vector Canape. where was I. Oh yeah trying to record data on that Crap forgot about that slashdot post I was making. I think that if they could speed it up so that it could keep up with the hrm that smells good. I wonder what is for lunch normal mind it would be great. The soft wear damn it, no ware ware would have to keep track it's wait, I thank that's only for it is. Um its homophones and other things that were similar.

  7. It may let you type by will alone... by Rhacman · · Score: 2, Funny

    but will it set your mind in motion?

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    Account -> Discussions -> Disable Sigs
    1. Re:It may let you type by will alone... by Tekfactory · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nope,

      Still Will Alone that you set your thoughts in motion, still the Blood of Sapho, Diet Coke or Mountain Dew that the thoughts aquire speed.

  8. One thing this story has made me realise... by petrus4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...is just how little I apparently think about sex, relative to the general population. There is a period of roughly once every 24 hours where the subject comes up, for the most part, and that is it. If I go outside, and happen to run into some women, it might be more than that, but on days when I stay in, it genuinely doesn't.

    I guess I'm just really abnormal.

    1. Re:One thing this story has made me realise... by jpmorgan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or perhaps you're perfectly normal and the whole 'men can't not think about sex all the time' is misandrist bullshit.

  9. Wrong title by Yvanhoe · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can not write words by thought alone. This device allows to (painstakingly at a very slow speed) type letters. This is a great stuff but this is not the device you are looking for. This is mostly for disabled people.

    --
    The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  10. "Tits!" would be fine... by denzacar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Watch out for that guy whose text is riddled with "DIE!", "DIE MOTHERFUCKER!", "I HATE YOU ALL!" and "ONE DAY YOU WILL ALL BURN!".

    He brings a heavy looking sports-bag in the office one day - find a reason to quickly step outside.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  11. Backspace by casals · · Score: 2, Funny

    How does it work? "The brown dog jumped over the lazy fo no wait that's wrong no dammit erase it no don't write erase no no you no erase e ra se back go back backspace erase it oh era no you fucking piece of shit just erase the fucking thing oh gosh how do you start again new control n new document create new fuck work thats it Im taking off this fuck--"

    --
    AT &F1DT0,T0800665544 - Real men, real help desk support.