Bill Kochevar's life was changed, seemingly irrevocably, when he was paralysed from the shoulders down following a cycling accident nearly a decade ago. His future looked bleak. But last year he was fitted with a brain-computer interface, or BCI, that enabled him to move his arm and hand for the first time in eight years. Sensors were implanted in his brain, then over a four-month period Mr Kochevar trained the system by thinking about specific movements, such as turning his wrist or gripping something. The sensors effectively learned which bits of the brain fired up - and in what sequence - for each movement.
Recently, car maker Nissan unveiled a "brain-to-vehicle" headset that monitors a driver's brainwaves to work out what you're about to do - before you do it. The aim of the system is to allow the vehicle to respond that split-second more quickly than a driver's natural reaction time. On a mountain road with lots of hairpin bends for example, brain-to-vehicle technology should make it easier to keep the car under control, says Nissan. In tests, even very experienced drivers have performed noticeably better using the system, the firm claims.
At the more light-hearted end of the scale, EmojiMe has built a pair of brainwave-reading headphones that display the wearer's emotional state in the form of animated emojis. It was originally invented as a joke, its creators say.
I dunno, I can see plenty of applications for being able to objectively measure someone's emotions, and very few of them are especially hilarious... if it works.
Facebook and other companies are in the very early stages of developing "silent speech", enabling users to type words just by thinking them. Microsoft, meanwhile, recently filed a patent for a machine learning system that would use EEG waves to launch and control computer applications.
Of course, one thing that is holding back really sophisticated uses is the need to use externally mounted electrodes. But brain implants are risky and expensive, making them suitable for only the most life-changing applications. "Invasive BCIs are used in experiments with people with severe disabilities," says Mr Alcaide, "and it is a long way away before we can see a future where people sport invasive BCIs."
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42894312
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