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Use the BCI, Ben!

Well, it may have been late, but Jaci got me an amazing Christmas gift this year- an Emotiv EPOC Headset! Although it failed to arrive in time for Christmas- it did not fail to impress! Emotiv is a small company and preferred to save money by manufacturing all orders as close to Christmas as possible (and I think it got held up at customs due to the Christmas terrorism plot) .  Jaci had remembered that during a research paper on Brain Computer Interface devices I wrote for an eCommerce class, I had discovered the EPOC and had declared its coolness- so she made a mental note and wallah- a Christmas miracle!

So what is it you might ask? Well I could go into detail about EEG patterns and the “intent impulse” that can be detected by electrodes  and translated into computer events, and the potential for machine learning algorithms to divine differences between different impulses and map them to specific events- but wouldn’t you rather just have me tell you that I can now control my computer with my brain!

The Emotiv EPOC Headset is basically a simple wireless EEG machine that takes readings from specific points around your head. More complicated than that- it translates the data back to your computer and a cognitive control panel tries to determine what you’re thinking- or more specifically, it tries to determine what you are thinking you intend to do. By a training process, the software maps specific EEG readings to specific actions (the basics were push, pull, lift, drop) and then other applications can “listen” for these events much like they “listen” for mouse events when the mouse is moved. The result is that you can control the computer with your brain!

Additionally, the software also maps facial expressions, and has an gyroscope to determine where you are looking at any given time. It can even determine your emotions much the same way a lie detector can! All of these applications together provide a very interesting basis for interacting with the computer in the near future. Even now, Microsoft is developing Natal- controlling a gaming device via gesticulation, so it may not be too far off!

But everyone don’t run out and order the headset first thing after you finish reading- it still has a long way to go. Training myself to think correctly was just as hard as training the computer. This certainly wasn’t a speed of thought interaction! In addition the headset can only determine intent to action- it cannot read your mind, so if you were hoping to unlock that novel you know is up there- it won’t be too good for that! It took a long while for Jaci and I to get it on the first time, there are lots of removable electrodes that have to be wet with saline solution (which is why I’m such a mess in these pictures) and they have to be placed in exactly the right spot, unimpeded  by things like Mohunlall hair! It is still a geek toy- and man what a cool one! (Poor Chumby is jealous!)

Ben controls the computer with his brain!