mind control
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Brain-machine interface helped a man with paralysis feed himself using robotic arms
Scientists have developed robotic arms that let people with paralysis feed themselves.
Snap buys a brain-computer interface startup to power future AR glasses
Snap has bought the brain-computer interface startup NextMind to power future Spectacles AR glasses.
NextMind's brain-computer interface is ready for developers
Beyond size and aesthetics, NextMind’s technology also seems fairly mature. Mostly because we’ll need to wait for a library of apps to be built for it first, but also it’s still a new technology -- and it takes some practice to become “fluent” with it, as my terrible performance on a mind-controlled game of Breakout can attest. Right now, the applications are pretty simple: Mostly controlling media and games and so on, but NextMind’s founder and CEO, Sid Kouider is confident the technology will evolve to the point where you can simply think of an image to search for it, for example.
A mind-controlled exoskeleton helped a paralyzed man walk again
A paralyzed man regained the ability to walk with the help of a robotic exoskeleton that he controlled with his mind. Unlike other, more invasive mind-controlled robotics, this one used electrodes implanted above the brain's outer membrane, not in the brain itself. That could reduce the risk of infection and other obstacles that have limited the success of mind-controlled robotics.
Chinese university finds a way to control cars with your brain
While Google and other automakers were developing autonomous cars, a group of Chinese researchers were working on a way to control vehicles with your mind. The team from Nankai University in mainland China has recently demonstrated the system, and it's clear that you don't have to be Magneto to be able to control a hulking piece of metal. It uses a headset (the girl in the image above is wearing one) that has 16 sensors to capture EEG signals from the brain, which are then wirelessly transmitted to a computer that sorts through them to find the relevant bits. The program then translates those relevant signals into commands the car can carry out, such as move forward, backward, stop and lock or unlock the car.
'Thinking cap' controls prosthetic arm with thoughts, not surgery
The ability to control prosthetics with only the power of your mind has been around for a while, but it typically requires control electronics implanted directly into the patient. With this new, non-invasive method developed at the University of Houston, however, amputees can command their robotic limbs without surgery. Instead of implants, the UH system uses a wearable "thinking cap" (aka an EEG) that monitors brain activity externally through the scalp. A brain-machine interface (BMI) then interprets these brain waves and converts that intention into mechanical motion. Basically, the patient thinks about picking up an object, the BMI recognizes the intention and then tells an attached prosthetic to do so. Even at this early stage of development, University of Houston researchers have gotten the system to work properly 80 percent of the time.
DARPA-funded mind-controlled robotic arm now works a lot better
At Expand NY in November, DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar talked about the erm, friendlier projects the agency is funding, including a mind-controlled robotic arm tested by Pittsburgh native Jan Scheuermann. Her test run has recently ended, but the University of Pittsburgh researchers in charge of project have published a paper detailing how much the limb has improved over the past two years. Before they took off Jan's implants, she could already move not just arm itself, but also its wrist and fingers -- she reportedly even beat her brother at a rock-paper-and-scissors game. "Overall, our results indicate that highly coordinated, natural movement can be restored to people whose arms and hands are paralyzed," said Pitt School of Medicine professor Andrew Schwartz, Ph.D.
Scientists use lasers to make fruit flies do a song and dance
What with their simple genetics and ultra-brief lifespan, poor fruit flies are the go-to insect for mad scientists. Researchers have discovered a new way to make their lives miserable with a mind-altering project called FlyMAD (not kidding). There's even an overly-elaborate plan: motion tracking cameras guide a specially-tuned laser to zap the insects like a tiny missile system. That activates light and heat neurons in their brains, triggering singing and dancing that seduces no actual female Drosophila. The scientists, however, were well pleased, and think they can further manipulate their subjects by perfecting the technique -- which we're sure has infinite real-world application.
Hearthstone upcoming changes
As Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft marches slowly towards its open beta stage and eventual release, further tuning is taking place. Community Manager Aratil has posted today on the Hearthstone forums about the full set of changes, and you can see that post after the break. Several outlying cards have been altered to ensure that they are not problematic, including the much beloved reviled Priest Mind Control. What's more, there's been a cap of 100 added for gold earned via Play mode. The cap does not apply to gold earned via Arena, Questing or Achievements, but from simply winning in Play mode. Aratil asserts that this is to "combat certain methods of gold acquisition that violate our Terms of Service", implying that there could have been some exploitation taking place, potentially win-trading or similar. Hopefully they will work out a way to combat that without capping gold, as it seems like players should be able to grind out more than 100 via Play mode per day, if they wish to. Hit the break for the full changes.
Spiritual Guidance: Choosing the best priest talents for you, pt. 1
WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore is a discipline priest by reputation, but still enjoys melting faces as shadow and bugging her raid to click the Lightwell as holy. One of the most interesting things about the new talent system added in Mists of Pandaria is that it encourages priests (and all classes) to choose which talent is best for them at almost every turn. No longer is one talent clearly better than another when examining them in a bell jar. Now instead you have to look at how and where the talent will be used; one talent might shine brightly in certain scenarios but be so utterly awful in others that it's practically unusable. The result of all this? We're now adjusting our talent builds more than ever. Of course, this isn't a new thing for DPS, who frequently swapped to alternative talent builds on each encounter to get the best possible damage (got to beat those 'locks!) but for healers it's more of a change. In the past, a healing priest might have considered switching between disc or holy, but rarely did that involve altering individual talents in our trees. Usually healers had an all-purpose build that was good for everything; changing around talents was only done on the rare occasion. That makes this new talent system a bit of a shake up for us, since the majority of priests are healers (two healing specs and all). So today I thought we'd look at the new priest talents as thoroughly as we could so it's easier to decide which one you want.
Axio's EEG headband helps you teach your brain to focus (hands-on)
Usually when an EEG sensor headset graces these pages, it's used to peer into your thoughts or grant the wearer the power to control other gadgets with his or her mind. While such uses have appeal, start-up company Axio has a new EEG headband that aims to help you learn to better control your own brain. It tracks your level of mental focus in real-time and provides positive reinforcement audio feedback when you're mentally locked in. The neoprene band packs a trio of electrodes, a PCB with a Bluetooth radio and audio out, and a battery pack to power everything. It works by identifying the brainwave readings that correlate to ideal executive function in your pre-frontal cortex and shooting that data to your computer or phone via Bluetooth. Axio's software then shows an onscreen graph that charts your focus level in real-time, and for folks who prefer a more literal tracking method, there's a photo above the chart that moves in and out of focus along with your mind. Additionally, the headband provides pleasing audio neurofeedback when you're focused in order to train you to stay mentally engaged.%Gallery-158654% Unfortunately, we couldn't get much more information about the neurofeedback functionality, as the technology behind it is the company's secret sauce, and it won't divulge more until it's got the cash to bring the band to market. We also weren't able to actually test the band to see how it works, as it's still in the prototype phase and there's still a kink or two left to work out. Axio did tell us that the prototype we got our mitts on was the result of just six short months of work, and that after hacking together the original design using Arduino, the current iteration has a custom PCB better suited to Axio's needs. Co-founder Arye Barnehama also informed us that the band should be on sale by the end of summer, though he wouldn't say for how much or where we'll be able to pick one up. Sometime after it hits store shelves, Axio plans to release an SDK so that enterprising devs can make their own focus-aiding software and implement whatever audio feedback they prefer to help them take care of business -- a dose of Bachman-Turner Overdrive ought to do the trick.
Mind-operated robot arm helps paralyzed woman have her cup o' joe (video)
Researchers at the Braingate2 consortium have made a breakthrough that allows people with spinal cord or stroke injuries to control robotic limbs with their minds. The original project allowed subjects with motor cortex-implanted chips to move cursors on a screen with their minds, but they can now command DEKA and DLR mechanical arms to grasp foam balls and sip coffee. Researchers noted that dropped objects and missed drinks were frequent, but improved brain sensors and more practice by subjects should help. To see the power of the mind move perhaps not mountains, but good ol' java, jump to the video below.
Haier Brain Wave TV mind-on
We'd all love to be able to control stuff with our minds and seeing as Haier's 58-inch Brain Wave TV was at CES we had to try. To use the mind control, you have to snap a controller on your head which attaches to your earlobe and with a small metal pad on your forehead. Unfortunately, this time around, we couldn't interface with the set to change channels and adjust volume and such but there was a game where you try to fly a bird through a maze. How'd we do? Well, we made the bird float up and down but that's about all. So, for those of you with dreams of never again having to relinquish the remote control because you're wearing it, keep dreaming. Video and pics below the break.
IBM says mind control next big thing in human-computer interaction; GLaDOS offers cake reward
From the ongoing Google-Apple turf war on voice recognition to Microsoft's gesture tracking with Kinect, humans continue to push the envelope on how to interact with computers and devices. Now IBM says mind control will be the next field to see a big leap, predicting breakthroughs within the next five years. Keep in mind that they're not talking about controlling humans a la Gorilla Grodd ... yet. Instead, they're talking about controlling computer actions and devices via brain waves. IBM software guru and potential Borg recruit Kevin Brown (pictured right) has already been using a headset to move cubes on a computer screen at will. Given the ongoing progress with mind-controlled cars and BrainGate, IBM's prediction might not be too far-fetched.
Control Siri with your mind and lots of hardware
What's better than controlling your iPhone 4S with Siri? How about just thinking about something and having it happen? That's what a group of hackers have accomplished with Project Black Mirror. They've connected an iPhone 4S up to a setup that uses a MacBook Pro and an Arduino open-source microcontroller along with electrocardiogram pads that are attached to the head of the "test subject." The Arduino is set up with a program that recognizes Siri commands from the ECG pads and sends them to a voice synthesizer, which then feeds the commands into the iPhone's microphone jack. The guys who came up with Project Black Mirror want to create a product out of this; perhaps a hat that you could wear and a sleeve that would provide the necessary input to Siri. As such, they're attempting a Kickstarter campaign to polish up the project and bring it to fruition. Check out their Kickstarter pitch below. By the way, the guys are in need of help starting up a business in the US (and I'm busy and can't help them), so if you want to volunteer to give them a hand, be sure to visit their website (link above) and let them know.
Monkeys control virtual arm with their brains, may herald breakthrough for paraplegics
Monkey mind-controlled arm: It sounds like the name of an awesomely terrible sci-fi film or a fledgling grindcore group, but it's a very real phenomenon, and one that could pay significant dividends for paraplegics everywhere. Neurobiology professor Miguel Nicolelis and his team of researchers at Duke University recently devised a method by which monkeys (and, perhaps one day, humans) can control a virtual arm using only their brains. It's a concept similar to what DARPA has been pursuing with its mind-controlled "Luke" arm, with one important difference: Nicolelis' system not only allows users to remotely execute motor functions, but provides them with near-instantaneous sensory feedback, as well. Most similar techniques use electrode implants to stimulate brain activity, but this can create confusion when a patient's brain sends and receives signals to and from a prosthetic arm. Nicolelis circumvented this problem with a new interface that can read and transmit brain signals to an artificial limb, before switching to a receptive mode in just milliseconds. After designing the technology, Nicolelis and his colleagues tested it on two, electrode-equipped rhesus monkeys. One set of electrodes was placed in the motor cortex of each animal, with the other implanted within their brains' sensory regions. They then trained the monkeys to look at a three identical objects on a computer screen and to "touch" each object with a virtual arm, controlled by signals sent from the brain electrodes. Only one of the three objects had a so-called "virtual texture," which, if selected with the on-screen arm, would send a sensory signal back to the monkey's brain (while triggering a tasty squirt of fruit juice for the lucky contestant). The two rhesus species ended up passing the test with flying colors, resulting in a "proof of principle" that Nicolelis' system can send tactile signals to the brain in almost real-time. The scientists have already developed a way for monkeys to control the arm wirelessly, and are now embedding their technology within a full-body, mind-controlled exoskeleton for paralyzed patients, as well. Of course, the technology still needs to be tested on actual humans, though Nicolelis seems confident that he and his team have already cleared the most difficult hurdle: "Since we cannot talk to the monkeys, I assume with human patients, it's going to be much easier."
Haier's mind control TV prototype hits IFA, we go foreheads-on (video)
The remote control revolutionized the way we watch television, doing away with the need for frequent trips to the set in order to change channels. One prototype in Haier's portfolio makes the whole remote thing look like a back breaking chore by comparison. The Brain Wave (definitely not a final product name) television protoype showcased at IFA this week brings mind control into the picture, promising users a future where channels can be changed and volume controlled with mere thought. The set is still in the early prototype stages at the moment, however, so we're still a ways away from such life altering precision. At the moment, the only available demo involves blowing up an animated barrel with your mind. Naturally, we had to give the thing a spin. Check out the results after the break.%Gallery-132589%
Toyota Prius Project's concept bike lets you shift gears with your mind
Got mind control on the mind? Check out this new concept bike from Deeplocal -- a Pittsburgh-based design house that's adding a neurological twist to the art of cycling. As part of Toyota Prius Project No. 11, the company outfitted the seat post of a Parlee PXP aero road bike with a wireless transmitter, allowing users to remotely shift gears with a smartphone. Deeplocal's designers then added a set of neuron transmitters to a helmet and re-programmed the PXP to communicate with them -- meaning, in theory, that riders could control the bike's gears by simply thinking about it. Theory, of course, isn't the same thing as practice, but perhaps the concept will become a reality if we think really hard about it.
Spiritual Guidance: Shadow priests react to patch 4.1, look forward to 4.2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Every Wednesday, shadow priesting expert Fox Van Allen takes you down the only road he's ever been down. You know, the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah. Shortly after patch 4.1 went live last Tuesday, I got the chance to raid Bastion of Twilight. I tried out Mind Sear on the first pull, and the numbers were absolutely luscious. Instead of weak, ugly, sub-2,000 ticks, I was seeing ticks twice that size. Before long, I was gaming my trash rotations, trying to proc Empowered Shadow and keep it up through the pulls. It was terrific practice for Cho'gall -- I finally felt like my AoE was making an impact on that encounter. Overall, I got praise for the improved numbers I was putting out (thanks, Mind Sear!). But that praise got me thinking -- how is the rest of the shadow priest community faring in the post-4.1 world? And with patch 4.2 around the corner ... is there anything about shadow priests that Blizzard still needs to fix?
Test subjects with electrode implants use mind control to move a cursor
As trippy as mind-control still seems to us, we've already seen it implemented in everything from wheelchairs to pricey gaming (and car driving!) headsets. But the problem is that they measure brain activity outside the skull -- you know, the thing we've evolved to shield the murky goings-on in our minds from prying EEG sensors. Now, though, a team of Washington University researchers appears to have happened upon a more effective -- albeit, invasive -- approach. The researchers got some brave specimens to move a mouse cursor by implanting plastic pads containing electrodes underneath their skulls, with the sensors sitting on the surface of the brain. That, they say, gives them access to more telling, high-frequency waves that say a lot more about cognitive intentions. In the end, the subjects moved the cursors by thinking one of these sounds: "ee," "ah," "oo," and "eh." Brain-computer interfaces ain't new, of course, but the scientists say the subjects with electrode implants had more success than people wearing electrode-studded EEG caps, which could translate to less frustration for people with severe disabilities.
