Oct

Brain Interfaces

Yac on October 3rd, 2008

One technology I simply cannot wait for is brain interfaces, ie, the ability for our brains to directly control external devices the way we can do now with our muscles. In fact, it irritates me that I have to physically type this blog post instead of just thinking it. Honestly, what a waste of time. It’s particularly bad for me (and others like me). I spend most of my time thinking about what I’m going to write instead of actually writing it, going over it again in my head. I have to mentally force myself to sit down and type out the words. I hate it, it’s boring, and it doesn’t capture the flow of my ideas effectively. Also, I’m lazy.

So, I think you can understand why being able to mentally control objects with your mind would be so amazing. And if you can’t, look at it this way: it’s like electronic telepathy. Literally, whatever you think of, happens. You think of a song while driving, it starts playing. You remember that you have an appointment next Tuesday, it’s automatically added to your iPhone calendar. When you play a game, you want to control the character directly, not through the awkward interface mapping of a game pad. The possibility are limitless. Communicating with others becomes real-time with in-brain instant messaging, and emails.

The beauty of this tech is that it is definitely coming. One day, whether 10, 20 or 50 years from now, it will be the standard way of interfacing with most devices. And it will feel natural once everyone is using, in the same way that portable phones have become second-nature to most of the world’s population. Devices that facilitate and extend communication between people are always embraced.

This brain interface theme is something I will revisit quite a few times, as it such an exciting field. The mechanics for brain interfacing fall under several categories: invasive and non-invasive. One requires a physical connection to the neurons in the brain, and the other uses an external devices to capture the thought pattern emitted as waves by the brain. Another property of the brain interface is that can work in two directions: the brain can control external devices, or information can be fed into the brain from external devices (or both, of course). Today, I will restrict myself to research on non-invasive techniques, where the brain controls devices.

One difficulty with these interfaces is understanding the extremely complex entity that is the brain. Researchers are learning more about it every day, but we still have a very long way to go. Luckily, cool things can be accomplished using even simple, crude techniques. Back in 2001, a colleague of mine at the (now defunct) at U of T developed a technique to react to drivers falling asleep and alert them. He wrote a program that measured the intensity of the EEG waves emitted by the brain using a couple electrodes, and triggered an alarm when the level dropped below a certain threshold. It was basic, but very cool. Researchers in Taiwan have recently developed a more modern version of this device.
I mentioned video game interfaces earlier. Well, several companies have recently released commercial products taking a shot at brain controlled video games. The results are mixed – it takes a bit of training to learn to control the device effectively – but the devices works. The technology is undoubtedly moving in this direction (consider the success of the Wii, and the iPhone, with their more intuitive, direct tactile interfaces).
While people are developing interfaces to read the brain, others are spending their time understanding what these signals emitting from the brain actually mean. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a mind-reading computer. By using it, they will attempt to decipher how the brain stores information, and how we mentally form words and phrases. The hope is that this research could “lead to improved treatments for language disorders and learning disabilities”. While I have my own selfish reasons for wanting such a technology, the potential benefits for disabled people is mind-boggling. On that respect alone, it is an important area of research.
Finally, scientists at UC Berkely have developed a technique to accurately distinguish which images a person is looking at by scanning their brainwaves. Does the following quote make you shudder or excite you? “Our results suggest that it may soon be possible to reconstruct a picture of a person’s visual experience from measurements of brain activity alone. Imagine a general brain-reading device that could reconstruct a picture of a person’s visual experience at any moment in time.” I admit the idea of a such a tool in the hands of governments worries me, but on the flip side, being able to access such technology myself is enticing. Regardless, we cannot stop the progress of technology. We can either embrace it or be passed by.

My ideal world of being able to mentally write an email, and stream a movie, book or song straight to my in-brain display all while riding a bus are dependent on many more technologies being developed (such as blanket wireless internet coverage, tiny wearable computers, amazing advances in bi-directional brain interfaces), but we’re constantly taking steps bringing us closer to that goal. Today was just a small slice of scientific advances that will make this technology a reality one day.