Brain-Machine Interface from Japan
Honda Research Institute Japan, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and Shimadzu Corporation have collaboratively developed the world’s first Brain Machine Interface (BMI) technology that uses electroencephalography (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) along with newly developed information extraction technology to enable control of a robot by human thought alone.
A person, wearing a special helmet which measures the brain’s electrical activity (EEG) and changes in cerebral blood flow (NIRS), thinks of a particular movement. The collected data from the sensors is then transferred over to a central unit which enables statistical processing of the complex information from these two types of sensors. As a result, Honda’s ASIMO humanoid robot makes corresponding movements such as raising its arm or leg.
Honda claims that in their internal tests they managed to achieve the world’s highest level accuracy rate of more than 90%. Sounds pretty amazing, even more so since this system is not invasive and doesn’t require the surgical implant of electrode arrays. Just imagine the impact such a system could have in the future for people with disabilities.
Learn more from the video:
If you are interested in this subject, I advise you to also watch the presentation by Krishna Shenoy who is creating “brain-computer interfaces” that will enable paralyzed patients to control prosthetic arms and computer cursors. In this short talk, Shenoy describes how his team of Stanford researchers has built a system that achieves typing at 15 words-per-minute, just by “thinking about it”.
Ivor Kovic
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