This is interesting. Check this out.
Um, I'm not sure this is such a great idea. In fact, I think this should
be left alone. From Cnet …
Scientist controls colleague's hand in first human brain-to-brain interface
University of Washington researcher Rajesh Rao sends a brain signal to
Andrea Stocco via the Internet, causing Stocco's right hand to move on a
keyboard.
Dan Farber
by Dan Farber
| August 27, 2013 12:09 PM PDT
Follow @dbfarber
University of Washington researcher Rajesh Rao, left, plays a computer
game with his mind, while across campus, researcher Andrea Stocco wears
a magnetic stimulation coil over the left motor cortex region of his brain.
(Credit: University of Washington)
The telepathic cyborg lives, sort of. University of Washington
scientists Rajesh Rao and Andrea Stocco claim that they are the first to
demonstrate human brain-to-brain communication. Rao sent a signal into a
Stocco's brain via the Internet that caused him to move his right hand.
Brain-to-brain communication has previously been demonstrated between
rats and from humans to rats.
"The experiment is a proof in concept. We have tech to reverse engineer
the brain signal and transmit it from one brain to another via
computer," said Chantel Prat, an assistant professor of psychology who
worked on the project.
In a press release, the experiment was described as follows:
The team had a Skype connection set up so the two labs could coordinate,
though neither Rao nor Stocco could see the Skype screens. Rao looked at
a computer screen and played a simple video game with his mind. When he
was supposed to fire a cannon at a target, he imagined moving his right
hand (being careful not to actually move his hand), causing a cursor to
hit the "fire" button. Almost instantaneously, Stocco, who wore
noise-canceling earbuds and wasn't looking at a computer screen,
involuntarily moved his right index finger to push the space bar on the
keyboard in front of him, as if firing the cannon. Stocco compared the
feeling of his hand moving involuntarily to that of a nervous tic.
The mind-meld between the researchers wasn't seamless. Rao spent time
training his mind, with feedback from the computer, to emit the
brainwave for moving the right hand so that it could be detected by the
computer. "The intention can be as detectable as the movement itself,"
Prat said. "Brain-computer interfaces have been capturing this with
increasing accuracy over the last decade."
When the software sees the right signal it is sent via the Internet to a
computer connected to a transcranial magnetic stimulation device, which
is positioned on the exact spot of the brain that controls the right
hand. "It uses simple physics," Prat said. "When the magnetic field
changes, it induces an electrical current, so a signal is sent through
the cortex of the brain and excites the neurons, simulating what happens
naturally."
The schematic diagram shows how the brainwave signal was transferred
from one brain to another.
(Credit: University of Washington)
Where does human brain-to-brain communication go from this simple
experiment? "It's very much a first step, but it shows what is
possible," Prat said.
"Right now the only way to transfer information from one brain to
another is with words," she said. With advances in computer science and
neuroscience, people could eventually perform complicated tasks, such as
flying an airplane, and dancing the tango, by transferring information
in a noninvasive way from one brain to another. "You can imagine all
complex motor skills, which are difficult to verbalize, are just chains
of procedures," Prat said.
More complex cognitive skills, such as understanding algebra and physics
could also benefit from the technology. "Ultimately, it's important
education and training, especially when knowledge cannot be easily
translatable into words." she said.
Prat noted that some people might be nervous about this technology being
used to control minds against their will. "The signal is being
transmitted remotely through the Internet, but the humans are connected
to physical equipment and must be trained to create the right signals.
There is no way to control minds without their willingness," Prat said.
At least for now, your mind is safe, but who knows where technology leads.
--
David Goldfield
Founder and Peer Coordinator,
Philadelphia Computer Users' Group for the Blind and Visually Impaired
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