BrAiN-MaChInE InTeRfAcEs MaKe FoR TrIcKy EtHiCs

Twitter Telepathy: Researchers Turn Thoughts Into Tweets

By Brandon Keim

Early on the afternoon of April 1, Adam Wilson posted a message to Twitter. But instead of using his hands to type, the University of Wisconsin biomedical engineer used his brain. "USING EEG TO SEND TWEET," he thought.

That message may be a modern equivalent of Alexander Graham Bell’s "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." Brain-computer interfaces are no longer just a gee-whiz technology, but a platform for researchers interested in immediate real-world applications for people who can think, but can’t move.

"We’re more interested in the applications," said Justin Williams, head of the University of Wisconsin’sNeural Interfaces lab. "How do we actually make these technologies useful for people with disabilities?"

The researchers built upon the BCI2000, a software tool pioneered by Williams and Wadsworth Center neural injury specialist Gerwin Schalk. The software translates thought-induced changes in a scalp’s electrical fields to control an on-screen cursor.

The BCI2000 is already used by 120 laboratories worldwide, but its communications applications have been largely restricted to messages appearing on a nearby screen. [BULLSHIT]

"A lot of these have been scientific exercises, geared to writing things out but not really doing anything with it," said Williams. "We wanted to say, that’s not how a person would want to communicate, especially with the advent of online communications."--

--Other brain-computer interfaces may someday help people control robotic prostheses, even body-sheathing exoskeletons that return a user’s body to functionality.

"Those are going to be great applications in the future, but at the same time we need to see what BCIs can do right now," said Williams.  Wilson’s later brain-to-Twitter messages included "GO BADGERS" and "SPELLING WITH MY BRAIN." 

All in the name of some “good” science! Yep, TIs know all about the “good” science that is anything but torture hidden from the public’s view. For emphasis, again the technology that’s in the public domain is usually 10-15 years behind Research & Development (RD).  

Note: Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Technologies:

Love “Light” and Energy

_Don

References:

[This Is a Computer on Your Brain]

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2006/07/71364

Body data into binary data 0101010101010:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/biomotion/

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12177

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/03/neuroengineering1? currentPage=all

http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12177#orgs

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/uncle-sam-wants/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/brainmachine/

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.08/assist.html