Mind Reading Computers

Different techniques making Mind Reading Computers possible

1. The mind reading actually involves measuring the volume and oxygen level of the blood around the subject’s brain, using a technology called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS). The user wears a sort of futuristic headband that sends light in that spectrum into the tissues of the head where it is absorbed by active, blood-filled tissues. The headband then measures how much light was not absorbed, letting the computer gauge the metabolic demands that the brain is making.The results are often compared to an MRI, but can be gathered with lightweight, non-invasive equipment.Wearing the FNIRS sensor, experimental subjects were asked to count the number of squares on a rotating on-screen cube and to perform other tasks. The subjects were then asked to rate the difficulty of the tasks, and their ratings agreed with the work intensity detected by the FNIRS system up to 83 percent of the time.
2. There are other means of reading brain activity than direct neural contact via pins. The first and most common is electro encephalo-graphy (EEG) where electrodes are placed against the scalp are used to pick up brain signals. However, this approach is not nearly as accurate as direct neural contact and can only pick up blurry, weak readings.
3. The other, much newer and much more accurate non-invasive technology is magneto encephalography (MEG) but is also more equipment intensive. Using MEG requires a room filled with superconducting magnets and giant super-cooling helium tanks surrounded by shielded walls.

New technology could allow people to dictate letters and search the internet simply by thinking, according to researchers at Intel who are behind the project. Unlike current brain-controlled computers, which require users to imagine making physical movements to control a cursor on a screen, the new technology will be capable of directly interpreting words as they are thought. Intel’s scientists are creating detailed maps of the activity in the brain for individual words which can then be matched against the brain activity of someone using the computer, allowing the machine to determine the word they are thinking.Preliminary tests of the system have shown that the computer can work out words by looking at similar brain patterns and looking for key differences that suggest what the word might be.

Mind Reading Wheelchair- A successful application

A little different from the brain-computer typing machine, this thing works by mapping brain waves when you think about moving left, right, forward or back, and then assigns that to a wheelchair command of actually moving left, right, forward or back.The result of this is that you can move the wheelchair solely with the power of your mind.