I looked a bit at societal ramifications of this and related issues in "The
connected brain (or Das Wohltemperierte Klavier)":
www.fleabyte.org/archives-computing_to_a_purpose-2.html#Connected_brain
My concern was and still is corporate power too highly concentrated.
Notice also references to various BBC reports.
And for some detail: "Through the eyes of a cat":
http://www.fleabyte.org/archives-rcfoc-1999-2.html#RCFoC-251099
Henry
Jack Park wrote:
> >Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:05:59 -0700 (PDT)
> >From: Gottfried Mayer <gmayerkress@yahoo.com>
> >Subject: Re: BBC program 'Future Fantastic' on brain-cyberspace interface
> >To: gbrain@listserv.vub.ac.be
> >Sender: owner-gbrain@listserv.vub.ac.be
> >Reply-To: gbrain@listserv.vub.ac.be
> >
> >Paul,
> >thanks for the BBC news alert. I would like to provide some background since
> >the BBC people apparently didn't do their journalistic homework about
> >brainwaves and their control. (Thanks to the Internet it is easier to
> >do a little fact-check yourself.)
> >First of all the person they feature, Andrew Junker, doesn't really claim to
> >use brainwaves to control gadgets (at least he didn't in the latest of his
> >publications that showed up in a google search). He says:
> >
> >"The Cyberlink(tm) System is controlled by the voltages found on the
> >surface of
> >the forehead.
> >When the muscles of the body contract a corresponding voltage can be detected
> >on the surface of the skin. "
> >
> >CYBERLINK MINDMOUSE: APPLICATIONS OF BRAIN WAVE COMPUTER CONTROL
> >http://www.dinf.org/csun_99/session0244.html
> >
> >So maybe I am wrong and BBC talks about a brand new version but if you watch
> >the show, check if they mention how he does it. The signal from the muscles in
> >your forehead are much stronger than the EEG brainwaves, and real
> >brain-researchers go through a lot of efforts to avoid those "muscle
> >artifacts"
> >because it messes up the brain wave signal. So what you really need to do with
> >his device is to learn how to make funny faces and learn how your muscle
> >activation controls the gadget. I mean that might be helpful for people who
> >cannot use their arms but it might cheaper (and more honest to them) if you
> >give them an interface where they can use, say, their lip or tongue muscles
> >over which you have much more control than your frowning muscles in the
> >forehead.
> >
> >If you want to play with a device that at least does a power-spectrum and has
> >some nice display, you can buy a
> >"brain wave controller" at IBVA TECHNOLOGIES,
> >INC.http://www.ibva.com/IBVA%20docs/default.htm (US$ 1400 for one channel).
> >It does not correct for muscle artifact so you also end up making funny faces.
> >(I had their two channel model and I tried
> >it with students to control video games.)
> >
> >At the Gbrain-0 workshop I mentioned to Ben Houston that the only device that
> >uses truly brainwaves and that has been shown to
> >work with locked-in patients who no longer can make funny faces has been
> >developed by Niels Birbaumer's group. See the ABCNews report and a scientific
> >reference:
> >
> >Using Brain Waves to Talk, Paralyzed Patients Use Special Computers, 24 March
> >1999
> >http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/brain_computers990324.html
> >
> >The thought translation device: a neurophysiological approach to communication
> >in total motor paralysis.
> >Kubler A, Kotchoubey B, Hinterberger T et al
> >Exp Brain Res 1999 Jan;124(2):223-32
> >http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=9928845&form=6&db=m
> >&Dopt=b
> >
> >
> >Ben, maybe you can post a link to the sources that you had mentioned, I'd be
> >curious to find out more how they do it.
> >
> >Anyway, enjoy the BBC show ... with a grain of salt.
> >
> >Gottfried
>
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