Brain Computer Interfaces Inch Closer to Mainstream

[Ubiquitous]

Last week, engineers sniffing around the programming code for Google
Glass found hidden examples of ways that people might interact with the
wearable computers without having to say a word. Among them, a user could
nod to turn the glasses on or off. A single wink might tell the glasses
to take a picture.

But don�t expect these gestures to be necessary for long. Soon, we might
interact with our smartphones and computers simply by using our minds. In
a couple of years, we could be turning on the lights at home just by
thinking about it, or sending an e-mail from our smartphone without even
pulling the device from our pocket. Farther into the future, your robot
assistant will appear by your side with a glass of lemonade simply
because it knows you are thirsty.

Researchers in Samsung�s Emerging Technology Lab are testing tablets that
can be controlled by your brain, using a cap that resembles a ski hat
studded with monitoring electrodes, the MIT Technology Review, the
science and technology journal of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, reported this month.

The technology, often called a brain computer interface, was conceived to
enable people with paralysis and other disabilities to interact with
computers or control robotic arms, all by simply thinking about such
actions. Before long, these technologies could well be in consumer
electronics, too.

Some crude brain-reading products already exist, letting people play easy
games or move a mouse around a screen.


Emotive

A brain computer interface, developed by Emotive.NeuroSky, a company
based in San Jose, Calif., recently released a Bluetooth-enabled headset
that can monitor slight changes in brain waves and allow people to play
concentration-based games on computers and smartphones. These include a
zombie-chasing game, archery and a game where you dodge bullets � all
these apps use your mind as the joystick. Another company, Emotiv, sells
a headset that looks like a large alien hand and can read brain waves
associated with thoughts, feelings and expressions. The device can be
used to play Tetris-like games or search through Flickr photos by
thinking about an emotion the person is feeling � like happy, or excited
� rather than searching by keywords. Muse, a lightweight, wireless
headband, can engage with an app that �exercises the brain� by forcing
people to concentrate on aspects of a screen, almost like taking your
mind to the gym.

Car manufacturers are exploring technologies packed into the back of the
seat that detect when people fall asleep while driving and rattle the
steering wheel to awaken them.

But the products commercially available today will soon look archaic.
�The current brain technologies are like trying to listen to a
conversation in a football stadium from a blimp,� said John Donoghue, a
neuroscientist and director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science. �To
really be able to understand what is going on with the brain today you
need to surgically implant an array of sensors into the brain.� In other
words, to gain access to the brain, for now you still need a chip in your
head.

Last year, a project called BrainGate pioneered by Dr. Donoghue, enabled
two people with full paralysis to use a robotic arm with a computer
responding to their brain activity. One woman, who had not used her arms
in 15 years, could grasp a bottle of coffee, serve herself a drink and
then return the bottle to a table. All done by imagining the robotic
arm�s movements.

But that chip inside the head could soon vanish as scientists say we are
poised to gain a much greater understanding of the brain, and, in turn,
technologies that empower brain computer interfaces. An initiative by the
Obama administration this year called the Brain Activity Map project, a
decade-long research project, aims to build a comprehensive map of the
brain.

Miyoung Chun, a molecular biologist and vice president for science
programs at the Kavli Foundation, is working on the project and although
she said it would take a decade to completely map the brain, companies
would be able to build new kinds of brain computer interface products
within two years.

�The Brain Activity Map will give hardware companies a lot of new tools
that will change how we use smartphones and tablets,� Dr. Chun said. �It
will revolutionize everything from robotic implants and neural
prosthetics, to remote controls, which could be history in the
foreseeable future when you can change your television channel by
thinking about it.�

There are some fears to be addressed. On the Muse Web site, an F.A.Q. is
devoted to convincing customers that the device cannot siphon thoughts
from people�s minds.

These brain-reading technologies have been the stuff of science fiction
for decades.

In the 1982 movie �Firefox,� Clint Eastwood plays a fighter pilot on a
mission to the Soviet Union to steal a prototype fighter jet that can be
controlled by a brain neurolink. But Mr. Eastwood has to think in Russian
for the plane to work, and he almost dies when he cannot get the missiles
to fire during a dogfight. (Don�t worry, he survives.)

Although we won�t be flying planes with our minds anytime soon, surfing
the Web on our smartphones might be closer.

Dr. Donoghue of Brown said one of the current techniques used to read
people�s brains is called P300, in which a computer can determine which
letter of the alphabet someone is thinking about based on the area of the
brain that is activated when she sees a screen full of letters. But even
when advances in brain-reading technologies speed up, there will be new
challenges, as scientists will have to determine if the person wants to
search the Web for something in particular, or if he is just thinking
about a random topic.

�Just because I�m thinking about a steak medium-rare at a restaurant
doesn�t mean I actually want that for dinner,� Dr. Donoghue said. �Just
like Google glasses, which will have to know if you�re blinking because
there is something in your eye or if you actually want to take a
picture,� brain computer interfaces will need to know if you�re just
thinking about that steak or really want to order it.