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RECENT POSTS:           | Monday, 13 October 2008
The U.S. Army is developing a synthetic telepathy technology that acts as a computer interface controlled directly by your thoughts. They are hoping to produce a system capable of composing an email, sending a voicemail or playing a video game using thought alone. Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Northrop Grumman announced yesterday that it has been awarded a $6.7 million contract to develop a day/night panoramic optical system that can detect, analyse and alert soldiers to possible threats by utilising human brain activity. The contract was awarded by the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for their Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System program (CT2WS). The aim of the program is to develop an intelligent neuro-optical system that will enable a soldier to detect threats over a wide field of view and at and extremely long range. Northrop Grumman’s Human-aided Optical Recognition/Notification of Elusive Threats (HORNET) system will utilise a custom-made helmet which taps brain activity via electro-encephalogram electrodes placed on the operator’s scalp. The system’s algorithms will be trained and refined over time by input from the operator’s neural responses. “Northrop Grumman’s HORNET system leverages the latest advances in real-time coupling of human brain activity with automated cognitive neural processing to provide superior target detection,” says Michael House, CT2WS program manager at Northrop Grumman. “The system will maintain persistent surveillance in order to defeat an enemy’s attempts to surprise through evasive move-stop-move tactics, giving the U.S. warfighter as much as a 20-minute advantage over his adversaries.” Northrop Grumman provides global defense and technology products to government and commercial organisations worldwide. Source: Monday, 2 June 2008
A paralysed man in Tokyo, has been able to manipulate an avatar in the popular virtual world Second Life, using only his brain waves. Japanese researchers made the announcement Monday and called it a world first. The 41-year-old patient has suffered paralysis for more than 30 years and can’t use a keyboard or mouse due to a progressive muscle disease disabling his fingers. During the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes which monitored his brain waves. He used the power of his imagination to control the on-screen character. Via an attached microphone, he was able to have a conversation with another character according to researchers at Japan’s Keio University. It is the first time a paralysis patient has successfully met and conversed in an Internet virtual world, the researchers said They are looking to progress this breakthrough further by adding a text message capability that will enable patients to type messages by mentally selecting letters. “In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves… and click to make a purchase,” said Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio Universty’s Faculty of Science and Technology. Second Life is a virtual world that is increasingly growing in popularity. Each person (or animal) is represented by animated avatars which can do just about anything including shopping. The virtual world has its own currency called Linden Dollars which are exchangeable for real world currencies. According to Ushiba, Second Life could motivate patients with severe paralysis, who are often too depressed to undergo rehabilitation. Sources: Technorati Tags:
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Two monkeys have learned to control a mechanical arm via tiny sensors in their brains to reach and grab food and deliver it to their mouths according to a report by scientists on Wednesday. The report was published online in the nature.com journal and is the most advanced demonstration so far of brain-machine interfacing. Scientists are hoping to eventually use the technology to help people with spinal cord injuries or other paralysing conditions. Previous experiments have seen nonhuman primates move a mechanical arm with their mind, but this latest experiment goes much further. The monkeys seemed to have adopted the appendage as their own, interacting with real objects in real time and even refining their movements over time. The monkeys’ own arms were restrained during the experiment. The new report was “important because it’s the most comprehensive study showing how an animal interacts with complex objects, using only brain activity,” said Dr. John P. Donoghue, director of the Institute of Brain Science at Brown University. The monkeys started out controlling the arm with a joystick in order to gain a feel for the arm. After that, a tiny grid (about the size of a large freckle) was implanted just beneath the monkeys’ skulls. The grid holds 100 electrodes which each connect to a single neuron and sits over a patch of cells on the motor cortex which is known to signal hand and arm movements. Wires from the grid run out through the skull and to a computer. Though the device could conceivably be wireless, no one has yet demonstrated a workable system. The computer analysed the firing of each of the 100 motor neurons and translated the patterns into an electronic command which was then sent to the arm. The arm was positioned to be in-line with the monkeys left shoulder as if it were a replacement for the monkey’s own. It took practice for the monkeys to manipulate the arm. Scientists assisted them at first with biofeedback but after a few days, the monkeys required no help and were successfully using the arm to feed themselves unaided. On several occasions, a monkey would move the arm back to its mouth to lick the fingers clean as if the mechanical arm were its own. One of the biggest hurdles scientists must clear if research is to progress is the longevity of the implantable electrode grids. They generally break-down within just a few months. | Subscribe
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