If you like to keep up-to-date with the latest advances in consumer technology, chances are you’ve already heard of OCZ’s Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA). Sounding far more complex than it actually is, the peripheral is an input device for your PC - like a mouse or a keyboard.
However, the device was not designed to replace those two illustrious pieces of equipment on a daily basis, but rather to complement them. The device is capable of reading neuronal discharges in the brain, muscular signals and retinal movements. OCZ marketed it at gamers with the promise that it would reduce the time that the body usually takes to relay information from the eye down through the body and on to our hands and fingers by around 50%. The headband uses carbon nanofiber-based sensors to provide the highest possible dynamic range for the recording of bioelectrical signals that are amplified, digitized and further de-convoluted into computer commands.
Taking this concept even further is a company called Novelquest. Besides their awesome workstation, The Emperor, the company has also produced a standalone game that requires users to control a ball by using nothing but their brainpower. Similar to the NIA, each player wears a headband equipped with electrodes that act as biosensors and measure the Alpha- and Theta waves emitted by the brain. Unlike firing away at the speed of light in an FPS, however, Mindball promotes a more tranquil way of engaging with your opponent by making the ball roll over to the person that is least relaxed.
The monitor in the background projects the players’ brain activity in real-time for an audience to watch. Although the game appears to be pretty straightforward, there is more to it than meets the eye. Think about it: the closer you get to sinking the ball in your opponent’s hole, the more excited you will get, consequently affecting game play and moving the ball closer towards your own hole. The change in brain activity between the state of being relaxed and excited takes place so quickly that Mindball ends up being very entertaining.
Scientists at the University of Portsmouth are implementing similar technology for patients that have suffered traumatic brain injuries and are unable to speak or move. The process dubbed as “Biopotentials” involves the patient controlling the cursor on a specially developed laptop which responds to brainwaves controlled by eye and muscle movement.
Actions are converted into corresponding results tailored to the individual patient’s needs. The responses vary from simple ones such as ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘thank you’, to more complex actions such as turning on a television or opening a link on a Web page. This technology is not yet available without the need for expert guidance, but judging by the availability and ease-of-use of the NIA it appears to only be a matter of time until it is.
What all this means is that computing, and therefore any linked application work, is very likely to undergo a transformation in terms of how we input data. No more designing graphics with a mouse, the ability to conceptualise on-screen whilst simultaneously brainstorming and even making music are all possibilities we can look forward to on the not so distant future. The fact that gamers, scientists, doctors and artists are all currently employing variations of this technology indicates nothing less.
