Mind Over Matter
From: The Engineer Online - 10/20/05
 
A team of researchers from Oxford University is seeking to create a
technology that will interface with the brain and facilitate more instinctive
control of devices such as robotic arms and wheelchairs. The goal is to bring
control of external operations into the asynchronous realm, allowing for more
gradual and precise control over external objects than synchronous
brain-computer interface (BCI) technology can offer. Electrodes attached to
the user's head enable control of a cursor or a robotic device merely by
thinking about it in a traditional BCI system. The Oxford group wants to pare
that system down to a single electrode through complex algorithms that would
allow more nuanced control over the object, rather than a binary on/off
switch. An asynchronous system would allow sophisticated controls over
factors such as speed and the amount of movement exerted, and would be a
watershed in the development of BCI technology. An asynchronous system would
read a user's thoughts and guide the device accordingly, as opposed to
existing systems which prompt the user for specific directional movements on
a computer screen. Detecting clear signals from the cluster of neurons
simultaneously firing inside the brain will be a central challenge to the
development of any asynchronous system. Applications beyond helping seriously
disabled people could include gaming and entertainment, as well as vehicle
control. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/292400/Mind+over+matter.htm

Links:
Oxford University
http://www.ox.ac.uk/

Stephen Roberts
http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/%7Esjrob/

Brain Computer Interfacing Project
http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~parg/projects/bci/index.html