Technological advances in human-machine interfaces
Mobile and gaming devices are adopting innovative user interfaces, from touch screens and voice interfaces on smartphones and tablet PCs to motion tracking interfaces on game consoles. Traditional personal computers still stick to the keyboard and mouse, but technologies like Microsoft Surface are emerging in entertainment and business settings.
Neuroscience and biomedical engineering are at the forefront of human-machine interface research by developing brain-machine interfaces capable of detecting and understanding thoughts, that could become widely used in medical rehabilitation. These interfaces differ on the degree of invasiveness to the brain: From electrodes applied directly into the brain or on the brain surface, to non invasive optical imaging techniques.
Honda developed a helmet that can be used to communicate simple commands, like moving a hand or running, to a robot, simply by thinking about the the movement. The Asimo robot responds to brain signals analyzed by the helmet, but the technology is still at a basic research stage.
Blood oxygen doesn’t lie
The Human Computer Interaction at Tufts University in Boston is using a non invasive technology (fNIRS) to measure the oxygen level of the blood in specific areas of the brain. A headband sends near-infrared light to brain tissues, that absorb light in a different measure according to the metabolic demands that depend on their activity level.
Measuring the activity levels of different areas of the brain could make identifying different emotional states possible. Researchers of the University of Toronto are using the same technology to predict decisions: Experimental subjects were shown two images of drinks on a PC monitor and then asked to choose the one they liked more. Preferences could be predicted with a 80% accuracy.
Attentive user interfaces could benefit from this kind of technology and introduce it also in future advertisement enforcement applications.
Wired brains in wireless communication
An electrode implanted directly into the human brain seems to be capable of translating brain waves directly into speech: Researchers at the Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems of Boston University are developing a computer system that currently can detect three vowel sounds, but hopefully in the future will make communication trough a synthetic voice possible for people that otherwise would be left mute as a result of a stroke or other diseases.
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