Researchers at the University of Osaka have developed technology that automates through a brain-machine interface. This intelligent system connects to the brain to carry out simple commands, and can potentially assist physically and mentally disabled individuals. This technology uses a system of electrodes that are hooked to a person’s scalp so brain patterns of activity are calculated by EEG signals. These EEG pulses demonstrate variations in brain movement patterns depending on the user’s concentration, mental state, and thought process.
Lead researcher Christian Isaac Peñaloza Sanchez from Japan’s University of Osaka is a PhD candidate in the department of Cognitive Neuroscience Applied to Robotics. He has titled this project “Automating a brain-machine interface system,” and stated that the team has given “learning capabilities to the system by implementing intelligent algorithms, which gradually learn user preferences.” This endeavor has been three years in the making as the team has been studying methods of measuring neural activity.
So far, this system can comprehend up to 90% of the user’s instructions and is programmed to intuitively predict the person’s actions and reactions to a variety of situations. Some examples for assisting the physically disabled include implementing this tech to control a wheelchair’s course around a room through robotic prosthesis and brain signaling detecting electrodes.
Yes, disabled people will benefit greatly when this technology is perfected. Other applications for brain interface technology include robotics, computer integration, household uses, and sensor integration systems.
Peñaloza Sanchez explained that the team has “found that user mental fatigue decreases significantly and the level of learning by the system increases substantially, and that they have seen “pretty good results in various experiments with multiple people who have participated as volunteers in our in vivo trials.”
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