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Technology Science

Non-Invasive Computer Control Through Brainwaves 433

Posted by timothy from the brain-please-activate-fingers dept.
mikael writes "An article on the BBC website is reporting that U.S. scientists have managed to develop a 'thinking cap' which allows a computer to receive commands from the electrical activity of a person's brain alone. Comprised of 64 electrodes, this cap allowed two users to control a cursor through pure thought alone, rather than through eye movements or other physical gestures." Unlike some previous efforts, this one doesn't require anything to be implanted in your brain.
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Non-Invasive Computer Control Through Brainwaves More

Non-Invasive Computer Control Through Brainwaves

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  • Woo hoo! (Score:5, Funny)

    by DrStrangeLug ( 799458 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:45AM (#11032302)
    The end of left handed surfing!

  • First thought... (Score:5, Funny)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:46AM (#11032312) Homepage Journal
    Saw the headline and thought "Non-Invasive Brain Control Through Computers". I need a new tinfoil hat.

  • could this be... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by domenic v1.0 ( 610623 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:46AM (#11032316)
    could this be the first actual useful tinfoil hat?
  • I imagine this technology illegal if someone hooked this mind control up to a tivo like machine - when a commercial is playing you could think "I wish to skip this commercial" and the remote does basically a fast forward. Yeah we read the other day on /. that skipping commercial will be illegal one day so no one get a bright idea in making a mind control remote for tivo or we'll have to ban this too.
  • Remember Brainstorm [imdb.com] starring Christopher Walken?

  • Electrodes (Score:5, Funny)

    by Treacle Treatment ( 681828 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:48AM (#11032337)
    I for one will be waiting for the 128-electrode technology to come out so I can think faster.

    • Re:Electrodes (Score:4, Informative)

      by venicebeach ( 702856 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @12:46PM (#11033727) Homepage Journal
      Actually, there are 128 electrode arrays, which are used quite frequently in cognitive neuroscience research. (see here [neuroscan.com] for example.) However, they take longer to put on (you have to make sure each electrode makes a good connection with the scalp) and the increased spatial resolution (which is minimal since signal is quite smoothed by going through the skull) is not necessary for an application like this one.

      This is not new, by the way. There were some studies done back in the early 90s using only two electrodes where people learned to move a cursor around on a screen. Just one on the left hemisphere and one on the right, and you hook it up so that different relationships between the activity at the two sights controls the different parameters of movement on the screen.

      See Wolpaw, JR., McFarland DJ, Neat GW, Forneris CA. An EEG-based brain-computer interface for cursor control. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1991 Mar;78(3):252-9

  • What does the person think? (Score:5, Funny)

    by superstick58 ( 809423 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:48AM (#11032347)
    So what exactly goes through the person's mind when they are moving the cursor. Do they just think "Left" and "Right" etc. Or do they simply have to look in the direction they want the cursor to go? It'd be interesting to try it out. It would bring me one step closer to utilizing the power of the force.
    • So what exactly goes through the person's mind when they are moving the cursor. Do they just think "Left" and "Right" etc. Or do they simply have to look in the direction they want the cursor to go? It'd be interesting to try it out. It would bring me one step closer to utilizing the power of the force.

      The way these things work, if they're anything like the similar systems I've read about in the past, is that you learn to change your brainwave patterns in a way that the computer can detect.

      When you get

    • Re:What does the person think? (Score:5, Informative)

      by MacJedi ( 173 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:42AM (#11032998) Homepage
      "Each dimension of cursor movement ... was controlled by a linear equation in which the independent variable was a weighted combination of the amplitudes in a mu (8-12 Hz) or beta (18-26 Hz) rhythm frequency band over the right and left sensorimotor cortices."

      (Jonathan R. Wolpaw and Dennis J. McFarland. Control of a two-dimensional movement signal by a noninvasive brain-computer interface in humans. PNAS published December 7, 2004, 10.1073/pnas.0403504101)

      From the methods and diagrams in the article looks like the slower mu oscillations moved the cursor in the horrizontal axis and the vaster beta osicllations moved the cursor in the vertical axis.

  • Invasive (Score:5, Funny)

    by teiresias ( 101481 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:49AM (#11032350)
    Because invasive would be that long spike jammed into the back of your cranium in the Matrix.
    • Is this discovery more evidence of how the pseudoscience of The Matrix trilogy was lacking? Perhaps. Anyway, I posted this story yesterday with the headline "A New Kind of Tinfoil Hat?" and yes, it was rejected! *gish*

  • Good, good.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by hab136 ( 30884 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:50AM (#11032361) Journal
    .. now get cracking on the bi-directional interface. I need my legion of computer-controlled human drones to do my evil bidding!

    Robots and sharks with lasers on their heads can't do everything, you know.
  • Robert Bozell did this story Monday night on NBC. I don't usually mock /., but come on, once it's been on network news, it's a little late.

    Then again, how many /.ers watch NBC news regularly?

    It looked amazing to me. It looked rather like early pong games, the user just learned how to move the small dot onto the large one. Nothing real precise, but imagine 30 years from now...
    • It looked amazing to me. It looked rather like early pong games, the user just learned how to move the small dot onto the large one. Nothing real precise, but imagine 30 years from now...

      Well, to get a truer understanding of what is possible you'd need a measure of information transfer from the surface of the scalp. It's kinda like a 120 baud modem. Controlling, in one dimension (or even two dimensions), a cursor, is not a task requiring massive bandwidth. Could be analogous, though, to piloting a wheelch

  • bout damn time (Score:4, Funny)

    by AviLazar ( 741826 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:50AM (#11032367) Journal
    because I, like the rest of you, have other uses for our hands while surfing the net.
    On a real note (though the above is true), imagine playing CS or any FPS game with mind control. Now it will even mean that shooter games will be won by the smartest - not the most physically capable (hand to eye coordination).
    • It's pretty easy for us (read: people) to adapt, and learning the nuances of h.e.c. are easy, but can take 6mos-1year for any given FPS, I'm going to venture out on a limb and say that h.e.c. is not the bottleneck in fps games.

      I have my vote for intelligence being the bottleneck. I more often outwit my opponents as opposed to out-battle (for lack of better term).

      For instance, halo2. Run around them in a circle, get behind their back and melee them (donkey punch). Even in Q3 excessive, in a battle use your
    • This is the only place in the world where a video game can be described as a physical activity. /wish a had a mind controller for CS

  • new type of h4x0r!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by TheWart ( 700842 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:50AM (#11032370)
    Now all you have to do to be a hacker is to wear one of these and stand behind people who are using a computer.

    Imagine the fun in a library or computer lab...mauahaha!

  • Brain-Computer Interfaces for Communication and Control [sfn.org] at the society for neuroscience annual meeting. There are already paralyzed people using this type of technology (electrode and even EEG(!)) on an experimental basis.

  • Very neat, of course, but what good is it if I have to put on a fruity hat? Work on making it cheaply implantable without risking a lifetime of vegetable-ness, please.

  • Tactile Feedback (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:51AM (#11032377)
    While I think this is wonderful for people who lack mobility or the use of their limbs, I for one, can't see this kind of tech gaining much ground for everyday use.

    One of the primary reasons for this is the sensation of tactile feed-back you get from using controllers that require physical interaction. You can feel the mouse scraping against your desk as you move it back and forth. You can feel the microswitches 'catching' when pushing the buttons. You can feel the keyboard keys 'click' into place as the latex compression switches underneath connect.

    Remember all the 'touch sensitive' microwaves that came out in the 80's and early 90s? Notice how all the buttons now at least provide some semblance of movement when you touch them, even if it's a small amount?

    Even if this tech becomes cheap and wide-spread, there's just no replacing the touch-sensation inherent with using mechanical input devices.

    • Re:Tactile Feedback (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Flamesplash ( 469287 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:04AM (#11032542) Homepage Journal
      You are correct, which means that to be in any way feasible for the average user it needs to be quick and accurate. There's a HCI technique called Fitt's law which measures the amount of movement required to perform actions with an interface, the lower the number the better and you could conclude that high numbers lead to RSI et al.

      So something that removed the need to make many fine grained movement, which we are good at but maybe shouldn't do to the excess that computers require, would be a good thing

    • "Remember all the 'touch sensitive' microwaves that came out in the 80's and early 90s? Notice how all the buttons now at least provide some semblance of movement when you touch them, even if it's a small amount?"

      Like iPod? .-)
    • I disagree, I've heard people say the same thing for type writers.
      People saying "Well, I don't hear a loud-ass click, how am I supposed to know it typed", or "Word doesn't increment the paper up every time I enter a newline, how am I supposed to know it's working?".

      This is a pavlov's dog kind of thing, well..maybe..that's what my "kneejerk" reaction is. People have learned to live with this feedback, and use it effectively, but that doesn't mean we can't work well without it. (Call bs on that if you feel i
  • Noninvasive for how long? These peripherals never last long as "write-only".
    • Don't worry it's coming so that you can cum without any work. (wrist or hip wise)
      The porn industry will have an orgy with such a device, regardless of price.

      It will be refered to as the "Orgasmatron", just like in the movie.
  • It's been on TV for a few days now, with reporters trying it on for size. Are we that far behind? Oh, almost forgot which site I was on.
  • ..of the thinking cap may cause severe scalp burns and cause all of your green Need and Desire bars to flatline and turn Red.

  • this could boost use of animal labor in factories (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Cryofan ( 194126 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:53AM (#11032406) Journal
    Imagine a factory workforce of trained animals (pigs? Dogs?) using this sort of technology; they might be able to handle problems a bit too difficult for a an actual manufacturing robot to handle.

    • Back in the 1980's,a research project was funded to determine the best way for rescue helicopters to find survivors wearing orange life-belts floating in the North Sea. Several proposals for advanced optical systems were proposed; these included infra-red cameras and laser scanning. The other system was based on bio-technology: A handful of pigeons were kept in enclosed containers on each side of the helicopter. The containers were warmed by an electrical heater, and had a window kept clean by a windscreen
  • I need one of these caps. Typing commands to this chick [beer.com] just ruins the moment.

  • A cruder version of this is used to treat ADD (Score:3, Informative)

    by EbNo ( 174259 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @10:56AM (#11032447)
    My wife (working on her PhD in psychology) was part of a program where children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder would play PlayStation games with a special controller in order to teach them how to strengthen their focusing skills.

    The controller was tied to a machine which monitored the level of a certain brainwave (I don't remember which) and if the levels fell outside predetermined parameters the controller would cease to function properly. This helped teach the kids how to maintain focus while performing a task that required constant attention. The 'brain interface' part looked like a baseball cap with lots of little sensors inside, no neurosurgery required.

    I tried it myself (I do not have ADD) and it was interesting how difficult it seemed at first to 'grasp' the required level, and how second hand it became after a few minutes of play (obviously the patients took quite a bit longer). It was a neat alternative / addition to drug therapy. I'd bet there is a lot of value in this more accurate control interface for future treatment.
  • Until the porn or gaming industries figure out how to adapt it. I can hardly wait. Any ideas?
    • Youbetcha!

      First, the "braincap" must be made to be
      bi-directional, with a low power RF link
      (like BlueTooth). The age old issue of
      processing power/bandwidth versus the
      power requirements will be a problem.
      Without the bi-directional communication,
      it would be a non-starter.

      Second, those "complex algorythms" mentioned
      in the BBC article will need to be improved
      for adaptive mapping to the brainwaves. Not
      having I/O access to the "pleasure" and "pain"
      centers of the brain, as well as to the 5
      senses, would be detri
  • where's the fun in controlling my computer via brain waves or thought patterns if i don't get to stick a fiber cable into my head? i want a datajack, for dodger's sake!
  • It could be bad to be able to control your computer by thinking. Just imagine if you were sitting at your thought controlled computer when a "friend" comes up and asks, "hey, what's the command to delete everything recursively without confirmation?"

    And you think... "\rm -r *"

    DOH!
  • People have been using brain waves recorded from the scalp to control interfaces for many years now, it's just always been a bit clumsy (and judging from the trajectory pictures in this article, this one is also...)

    Maybe it's an incremental improvement on the technology, and that's great, but don't sell it as something completely new.

    • People have been using brain waves recorded from the scalp to control interfaces for many years now, it's just always been a bit clumsy (and judging from the trajectory pictures in this article, this one is also...)

      Maybe it's an incremental improvement on the technology, and that's great, but don't sell it as something completely new.

      Sorry to reply to myself, but I found this in the article:

      "It is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments. "

      I know it's as
  • "I will not look at lemonparty, I will not look at lemonparty...AAARGH! MY EYES!!!!"

  • Not the first, second or third (Score:3, Interesting)

    by StateOfTheUnion ( 762194 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:02AM (#11032509) Homepage
    This is not the first, second or third . . . time that someone has done this . . . nor is it the first, second, or third time that its been posted on /.

    In fact, the article says: It is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments.

    So even the original cited article claims that this is not new . . . I fail to understand why such "repeats" of similar "discoveries" seem to be so "newsworthy"

    I remember playing with a device that connected to electrodes that one connected to the head and measured some level of brain activity when I was in high school. This connected to a PC which would draw a virtual strip chart of measured activity. We would move the stripchart pen with our mind . . . isn't this really quite similar? . . .

  • It seems some of the potentially really clever species like whales, dolphins, and elephants, really aren't equipped for communications with humans e.g., voice, American sign language, point-and-click. Maybe with this interface and computers, we can establish more successful forms of communication with species that see the world much more differently than us ... unlike say chimps and gorillas which seem so like us that it's depressing ... two both species actually.

  • Directional Bias? (Score:5, Funny)

    by 14erCleaner ( 745600 ) <FourteenerCleaner@yahoo.com> on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:08AM (#11032579) Homepage Journal
    Does it move left when you think of Kerry, and right when you think of Bush?
  • Hmmm... now we just need it to put images into our heads and it will be like the movie Strange Days. Makes pr0n much more interesting. Would also make it so you could record every second of life and have instant recall of everything.
  • With devices that record brainwaves through from a skull thickness' distance, I reckon the recordings cannot be very detailed.

    As such, I think it would require a relatively large amount of brain to emit these signals, and it would require yet another amount of surrounding brain to be practically dead -- as not to interfere with the signal. (I guess it's common knowledge that certain thoughts and feelings interfere within the brain because of their close positions. That is, I'm not a researcher, but I've he
  • If one can think and have their thoughts converted to actions, why have a mouse cursor? Why not just think "click the OK button" or "open $application"? It's interesting that they were able to convert thought to commands used to control a computer but why not think about the GUI along side the SUI (Solid User Interface)?
  • Does this mean that everybody will have to shave their heads in order to wear the skullcap?

    I mean...hey..if everybody does it then it would'nt be that strange...

    I'd imagine the world would look somewhat like THX1138!
  • I can't remember the original captains name but he was a quadrapalegic and could control 3 lights with using only his mind for communication. Life imitates art

  • Similar stuff at WorldExpo 2000 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by grungeman ( 590547 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:21AM (#11032747)
    At the WorldExpo 2000 in Hannover/Germany, the Swedish booth showed something similar. Two contestants were wearing tin foil hats that measured their brain activity. The higher the brain activity, the lower the score, so the goal was to be more relaxed than the opponent.

    The great thing was that the most ambitious people had no chance, because their brain was too active in wanting the victory. Pretty cool, watching two guys relaxing the hell out of each other.

  • impressive (Score:3, Interesting)

    by meatspray ( 59961 ) * on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:25AM (#11032798) Homepage
    So they have calculations to read the impulses and move a cursor in the desired direction. Too bad the article is a little light on details. Wonder how long before they're able to decode simple thoughts, perhaps letters or even words. It's understandably a pretty long jump.

    If they could pick up the Medulla Oblongata's output and pass it along to electrodes the diaphram of a tetrapalegic, or from motor control to their arms to allow gross movement.

    Imagine typing at 400 words per minute. Of course this tech might suffer from the same class of problems as speech recognition but there's certainly hope.

    Would be interesting to be around to see the day that they fully understand what comes out and how to put stuff in to a brain. Those will be exciting. (and potentially dangerous times)

  • I know these guys (Score:5, Informative)

    by noser ( 114367 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:40AM (#11032970)

    The work is pretty neat. They put a sock thing on your head and measure your brainwaves. Apparantly not everyone can be trained to use the system. There was a long screening process where they looked for people with brain patterns that they could read. I signed up for the screening but I was never called; I guess they got all the volunteers they needed. My friend went in for the screening; they make you wear the reader thing on your head while you concentrate on a dot moving through a very simple maze. Evenutally you get to try to control the dot; that's as far as my friend reached. I know that eventually they move you up to an actual "Armitron" toy that they wired up to the monitors. It is very cool research.

    This stuff isn't geared to replacing your keyboard and mouse. The hook is the promise of developing the technology for better artificial limbs; but think about it. If a disabled person can control their own artificial arm with brainwaves; why not a big crane? Why not a crane on a battleship or out in orbit?

  • Commercialize It! NOW! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by puzzled ( 12525 ) on Wednesday December 08, 2004 @11:46AM (#11033047) Journal


    This looks like it isn't very complex nor very expensive - 64 electrical sensors in a cap and a PCI card with 64 inputs for A to D conversion- looks like less than $500 in volume, perhaps only $200.

    You can do infinite numbers of fun things, first one that comes to mind is a brain wave visualization plugin for XMMS.

    Lets hope someone picks this up and runs with it.

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