Just Think About It

If I asked you if humans would ever have the technology to control machines with our minds, what would you say? Maybe someday? It's impossible? Maybe it will be possible sooner than we think? The correct answer is that we've had that technology for nearly a decade now. You can even go online right now and buy a headset that will read signals from your brain and use them to control a video game. Brain-computer interface technology could change our world in more ways than we can imagine, so why doesn't anybody seem to know about it?

In high school, I started watching a Japanese cartoon about robotic fighting action figures that were controlled only by the players' thoughts.  The concept seemed pretty amazing, so I did a few Google searches to see just how far our modern technology was from making something like that a reality.  I was shocked to discover we were already there and, that somehow, I hadn't heard about it until that moment.

Researchers first made the link between chimp EEG readings and computer programmed output at Duke University, way back in 2003.  Monkeys were, after some training, able to move a cursor on a screen by simply thinking about moving their arms and squeezing their hands. The monkeys were trained to move a joystick to control the cursor, but when the joystick was taken away, after a few rounds, the monkeys realized they no longer needed to move their arms and simply sat and thought, moving the cursor using only their minds.

A lot has happened in the seven years since that breakthrough.  BCI, or brain-computer interface, technology has been used to help paralysis patients communicate and operate wheelchairs, to give amputees the ability to move robotic prosthetic limbs as they would naturally. BCI technology has even broken into the entertainment industry. Uncle Milton Industries created a Star Wars themed game where players focus or relax to control a fan which elevates a ping pong ball.  Several companies, such as Emotiv and NeuroSky, have developed more sophisticated neural headsets available to the public, with documentation and developer kits available for indie programmers to experiment with.

This technology has completely fascinated me since I first discovered it in high school, but somehow it seems that nobody I talk to has ever heard of it before, and many find the idea unbelievable or even frightening. Most new technology like this is greeted with excitement, buzz, and lots of interest and speculation about what the future might hold. And yet, in the three years I took media studies classes at my university, never once did anyone bring up BCI technology, even though it could have a huge impact on the way we use cell phones, personal computers, video games, and nearly every other piece of technology in our lives.

So why the lack of media flurry about BCI? I think part of it has to do with accessibility. The technology is a bit complicated, and although there are commercial head sets for sale, they're still quite expensive and the number of applications available for them is  pretty slim. Without direct access, most people will probably read an article about BCI and dismiss it as something crazy, far-off, and a little spooky—not worth getting all worked up about. BCI needs to be introduced to masses in a big way, and in a way that people can understand and relate to.

I'll be very interested to see what happens once BCI technology is finally accepted into mainstream culture. The question is whether BCI will catch on and spread like wildfire and be integrated into every aspect of our lives, or whether it will simply be dismissed as a novelty technology that simply doesn't fit into our lifestyles.