May The Force Be With You
Imagine this, I want to move an object which is quite far away from me and I don’t wish to move. But I only keep staring at the object and the object moves to whichever position I want, making use of mind control. Isn’t it fascinating?
This is something we’ve definitely seen in SciFi movies like the X-Men, where Charles Xavier also known as Professor X can read and control minds just by using his brain. Talk about the futuristic movie, Elysium where the person uses an exoskeleton to keep him moving, punching, and shooting although his body fails him.
Currently, several systems are being used to translate our brain activity. The electric impulses are then converted into signals that the software can comprehend. This is how your brain activity can be used to control a remote device.
But first, let’s get to the definitions. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) is a machine-based system that allows us to have a direct communication track between the brain and the outside world. This enables us to interact with computers using brain activity, thus, creating a bridge between humans and computers. A human brain contains about 86 million neurons and each neuron is individually linked to another. Each time we think or move a muscle, these neurons get to work and are activated with energy. So, what does a BCI do here? It recognizes these changes in energy patterns in our brain.
We use the approach of electroencephalogram(EEG) for recording signals from our brain. No, we don’t have to cut open our skull to collect the brain signals. A series of electrodes are placed on the scalp to record this energy generated by the brain. The person taking the test is made to wear an EEG cap with electrodes placed at certain points to detect brain activity and record signals.
Source: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/man-wearing-brainwave-scanning-headset-gm1212708067-352140709
The complements of BCI are built on a body of fundamental neuroscience. The functionality of BCI is wide-ranged and is based on either observing the user state or allowing the user to give their ideas. In communication and control, BCI can help differently-abled people to tell and write down their opinions via a variety of methods. BCI assistive robots can offer support for such people in their daily activities, thus, making them feel much more inclusive in society.
BCI is also used as a tool that can retrieve and use information about an individual’s emotional, cognitive, or effectiveness state. It also contributes to the development of smart environments and emotion-controlling applications. The mental state monitoring function of BCI systems has also contributed to forecasting and detecting health issues such as abnormal brain structure, sleep disorder, brain swelling, etc.
For people who do not have normal levels of mobility or communication, BCI-based prosthetic limbs can be used to regain normal functionality.
Deploying brain signals isn’t exclusive to the medical field only. Smart environments such as smart houses, workplaces, or transportations could utilize brain-computer interfaces in offering further safety, luxury, and physiological control to human’s daily life. Brain signals also assist in improving workplace conditions by the valuation of an operator’s cognitive state. They even analyze the impact of workload, mental fatigue, and task time.
TV advertisements have also tapped the benefit of EEG with BCI-based assessment methods to measure the generated attention accompanying watching activity.
To control the stress that comes with sports competitions, EEG-based emotional intelligence has been applied in the sports sector as well. The market for BCI in entertainment and gaming applications is just huge.
Brain controlling capabilities have been combined with the features of a few existing games. In a game called BrainArena, the players can collaborate or compete by the means of two BCIs. They imagine the left or right hand-movements to score a goal.
But with all this mind-reading infused technology, should we be worried about its security and privacy threats ahead? At present, most BCI’s are unidirectional they can only read thoughts but can’t put any ideas into the user’s mind. However, given the pace of its technological advancement, bidirectional interfaces won’t take too long to become mainstream. Especially if Elon Musk’s BCI-based Neuralink has anything to do with it.
Just like anything that Musk does, BCIs pooled interest when he launched Neuralink. All the while being very secretive, he suggested that it would work on a mesh of electrodes that would sit on the surface of the brain called the ‘neural lace’.
Although Neuralink’s initial application was to help people with neurological disorders, Musk is looking out to allow humans to create a direct interface with artificial intelligence. It might be seen as the only way to stop ourselves from getting outplayed by machines is to link up with them.
We aren’t at the Matrix-level of BCI technology but we’ll still get there eventually. BCI has immense potential to assist people to control devices such as the exoskeleton(like the Iron Man suit or Elysium suit) or a wheelchair(like Professor X). BCI will also help ordinary people to assist with their domestic chores, enhance relationships with their families and improve their cognitive and motor abilities.
But the construction of a BCI system that is reliable is still quite challenging and a significant effort is still needed to bring these devices from the experimental stage to the main market.
Source:https://in.pinterest.com/pin/11610911509623667/
References:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/brain-computer-interface
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/12/30/brain.controlled.computers/index.html
https://opedge.com/Articles/ViewArticle/2009-02_10
https://slate.com/technology/2020/08/neuralink-musk-brain-computer-interface.html
