HANDS ON GUIDE

2 - Mind-machine interfaces

The headache? It's a BSOD hangover

WHAT ARE THEY?

A mind-machine interface will completely remove the need to use a peripheral to interact with a computer. The ability to directly control a computer with the power of the mind alone is an idea common in science fiction. However, not only has it been proved possible, but scarily, there are already products for sale that make use of it.

Until recently, there was little to suggest such a direct interface between man and machine was even possible. Experiments have shown that either by reading brain waves using a non-invasive device, or physically connecting a nervous system with wires to a computer can allow them to be controlled using the mind. Moving a mouse pointer, or substituting keyboard input for thought patterns have both been demonstrated.

The Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA), manufactured by OCZ makes use of such an interface. You put it on your head, plug it into your PC, calibrate it, then you can assign some of the controls in FPS games to thought patterns. And it works.

One potential benefit of a mind-machine interface would be for easier control of prosthetic limbs. Mapping the mere thought of moving a limb with robotic control of a prosthetic arm or leg could be a huge benefit to disabled people and a big improvement on what is available today. A true bionic arm or leg would also need to provide feedback into the nervous system to recreate a sense of touch, a separate problem, but solvable with a mind-machine interface.

HOW DO THEY WORK?

The phrase 'mind-machine interface' may make you think of Doctors drilling into your skull and inserting wires. The NIA doesn’t require any such dangerous surgery. It picks up the variation in voltages given off from different areas of the brain when you think about different objectives and movements. Many parts of the brain behave in similar ways when a person just thinks about an action as they do when when they actually perform it. It’s possible that you can bind the firing of a weapon in a game to the voltage fluctuations the NIA picks up when you simply think about the action.

The NIA can't beam pictures into your head, and it doesn't read exactly what you are thinking about. It works because different waves are given off when different parts of your brain are activated. It can differentiate between Alpha, Beta and Gamma brain waves. Depending on what you are doing in a game (shooting, standing still, running) different combinations of these waves will be given off.

WHAT COULD GET IN THE WAY?

When it comes to controlling a PC, any mind-reading device needs to be noticeably more responsive or accurate than a traditional mouse and keyboard. Otherwise, it’s just an ugly headset that makes you look stupid. The NIA’s creator believe that, with practice, your reaction times are much faster with his device than a mouse and keyboard. After some time playing Unreal Tournament 3, we were able to pull off the odd lightning-quick dodge or attack on other players.

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