Sending Messages With Your Brain Via EEG 99
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."
TCMP? (Score:5, Funny)
This may be the first time (Score:5, Funny)
That a brain was involved in the process of Tweeting.
8 characters a minute is excellent. (Score:5, Funny)
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!
f i r s t p o s t (Score:5, Funny)
Re:8 characters a minute is excellent. (Score:2, Funny)
"hossie"? What are you, 6 years old?
Hell of a fruedian slip (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not as quick as texting...yet (Score:2, Funny)
Especially if your name is Etaoin Shrdlu.
Re:Eye tracking? (Score:5, 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.
Obligatory... (Score:4, Funny)
Kif Kroker: One beep for yes, two beeps for no. ... [Fry beeps twice]
[Fry beeps once]
Captain Zapp Brannigan: Double yes. Guilty.
Re:Not as quick as texting...yet (Score:4, Funny)
Re:8 characters a minute is excellent. (Score:1, Funny)
Re:8 characters a minute is excellent. (Score:3, Funny)
How odd.
Re:Eye tracking? (Score:3, Funny)
'Because Apache helicopters are prohibitively expensive even for patients with the best insurance, aside from being illegal for civilians to own.'
It would probably be much cheaper to pick up a surplus thought-guided control system from the Soviet Mig-31 project on ebay. The only downside (and this is very important) is that you must think in Russian. You can't think in English and transpose it - you must think in Russian.