[font style="font-weight: bold;" size="5"]I want one...![/font]
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"] [div class="shift10"][a href="vny!://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060417/mentaltyping_tec_zoom0.html"]
%20%5B%20new%20%5D%20--%5D%20%5Bb%5DApril%2017,%202006%5B/b%5D%E2%80%94%20A%5Bb%5D%20computerized%20typewriter%20that%20translates%20electrical%20impulses%20from%20brainwave%20signals%20into%20letters%20and%20words%20could%20be%20available%20in%20the%20next%20five%20years.%5B/b%5D%20%20%5B/p%5D%20%20In%20the%20short%20term,%20the%20technology%20will%20allow%20its%20developers,%20from%20the%20Fraunhofer%20Institute%20and%20the%20Charit%C3%A9%20%20Hospital%20in%20Berlin,%20Germany,%20to%20watch%20a%20thinking%20and%20behaving%20brain%20function%20in%20real%20time.%20%20%20%5B/p%5D%20%20But%20in%20the%20long%20term,%20such%20a%20brain-machine%20interface%20could%20replace%20the%20joystick%20in%20electronic%20gaming%20or%20serve%20as%20a%20communication%20tool%20for%20people%20unable%20to%20speak%20or%20sign.%20%20%5B/p%5D%20%20%22We%20are%20dreaming%20of%20something%20like%20a%20baseball%20cap%20with%20electrodes%20in%20the%20cap%20that%20can%20measure%20the%20brainwaves,%22%20said%20one%20of%20the%20scientists%20behind%20the%20project,%20Klaus-Robert%20Mueller%20of%20the%20Fraunhofer%20Institute.%20%5B/p%5D%20%20%22People%20could%20just%20put%20on%20the%20cap%20and%20have%20a%20wireless%20connection%20from%20these%20electrodes%20to%20a%20computer%20and%20they%20can%20play%20video%20games.%22%20%5B/p%5D%20That%20vision,%20said%20Mueller,%20will%20require%20advances%20in%20electrode%20technology%20that%20allow%20the%20tiny,%20metal%20sensors%20to%20pick%20up%20electric%20signals%20from%20brainwave%20activity%20without%20making%20contact%20with%20the%20skin.%20%20%5B/p%5D%20%20For%20now,%20Mueller%20and%20his%20colleagues%20are%20still%20somewhat%20constrained%20by%20the%20conventional%20electrode%20cap,%20which%20looks%20like%20a%20swimmer's%20cap%20emb%20edded%20with%2064%20or%20128%20contact%20points%20and%20a%20web%20of%20wires%20leading%20to%20a%20%20computer.%5B/p%5D%5Bimg%5Dvny!://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060417/gallery/mentaltyping2_goto.jpg)
[/p] Each electrode emb edded in the cap must be smeared with a conductive gel before the cap is fitted properly to a person's head, a process that can take 30 minutes to an hour. [/p] Where Mueller and his team's technology excels is in the software. [/p] Once the electrode cap is in place, the person must calibrate the computer to their individual brainwaves. [/p] Whereas other research projects may require a person to spend 100 hours practicing with the machine before calibration is finalized, the Fraunhofer system takes only five minutes. [/p] "The Berlin group is very strong and focused on the computer learning the pattern," said Robert Leeb, a brain-computer interface researcher at Graz University of Technology in Austria. [/p] Leeb works on a team that is currently developing a machine that propels a person through a virtual environment based on their brain signals. [/p] During calibration, the person imagines moving his left or right hand. The signals picked up by the electrodes are processed in a specially written computer program that filters out signals from thoughts not related to moving the object and homes in on the brain activity responsible for the imagination of movements. [/p] Once the person is in sync with the computer, he can imagine moving his hands or feet or rotating an object to trigger an action on the screen. [/p] "In the brain, there is one specific area on the cortex that is active during left hand motor imagery and another one that is active during right hand motor imagery. These mental tasks are discriminated by their brain activity patterns and can thus be used for brain-computer interface control," said team member Benjamin Blankertz. [/p] Additional computer screens present various data indicating brain activity, which the team monitors closely. [/p] Their goal is to capture and display many more psychological measures, such as those that reveal cognitive workload, attention, stress, and vigilance. [/p] The work could open the door on a wealth of information about how the brain functions, not to mention improve how it controls images on-screen with just a thought. [/p]
