NEWRON Vol V, Issue X

[Natan Davidovics]

NeuroEngineering Weekly Review of News

Some cool stuff going on in the world of brain-computer interfaces this week.  

 

Interesting NeuroEngineering links:

Hopkins Neuroengineering web site: http://neuroengineering.bme.jhu.edu
New job blog: http://neuroengjobs.blogspot.com/
Blog for administrative questions: http://neuroengineering.blogspot.com
NEWRON on the web!: http://neuroengineering.bme.jhu.edu/Home/newron

Enjoy,
Natan Davidovics
NEWRON Publishing Corporation

Scientists Steer Car with the Power of Thought

http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/presse/fup/2011/fup_11_047/index.html

You need to keep your thoughts from wandering, if you drive using the new technology from the AutoNOMOS innovation labs of Freie Universität Berlin. The computer scientists have developed a system making it possible to steer a car with your thoughts. Using new commercially available sensors to measure brain waves – sensors for recording electroencephalograms (EEG) – the scientists were able to distinguish the bioelectrical wave patterns for control commands such as “left,” “right,” “accelerate” or “brake” in a test subject. They then succeeded in developing an interface to connect the sensors to their otherwise purely computer-controlled vehicle, so that it can now be “controlled” via thoughts. 

Israeli researchers pursue brain-operated computing

http://www.jpost.com/Business/Globes/Article.aspx?id=195464

The question of the interface between human beings and computers is one of the great dilemmas of the producers of entertainment technology. In recent years, touch screens have changed the field. In the laboratory of Prof. Yael Hanein, of the Department of Physical Electronics in Tel Aviv University’s School of Electrical Engineering, scientists are currently working on a miniature electronic component that can read what happens in nerve cells and transmit it to a computer.

At AAAS 2011: Taking Brain-Computer Interfaces to the Next Phase

http://actu.epfl.ch/news/at-aaas-2011-taking-brain-computer-interfaces-to-t/

In an ongoing study demonstrated by Millán and doctoral student Michele Tavella at the AAAS 2011 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., the scientists hook volunteers up to BCI and ask them to read, speak, or read aloud while delivering as many left and right commands as possible or delivering a no-command. By using statistical analysis programmed by the scientists, Millán’s BCI can distinguish between left and right commands and learn when each subject is sending one of these versus a no-command. In other words, the machine learns to read the subject’s mental intention. The result is that users can mentally relax and also execute secondary tasks while controlling the BCI.