Human Brain Controlled Technology

Imagine being able to do anything with just your thoughts, no typing into a machine or even moving, pretty cool right? Engineers are developing this technology a part of our everyday life. Emotiv’s devices read our brain waves and convert them into digital signals.

Other companies are also taking part in the new brain controlled technologies, a man named Bill Kochevar was paralyzed from his shoulders down while riding his bicycle. He suffered for eight years, thinking that he did not have any other options besides to sit and let everyone take care of him. In recent developments, Bill has been given a second chance. The BrainGate2 gave Mr. Kochevar a chance to control his body again. The developers implanted sensors into his brain that send direct messages to other parts of his body. Within weeks, Kochevar was able to feed himself and write on his own again!

Many companies are also exploring brain-controlled wheelchairs. This makes it easier for patients that do not have the strength to wheel themselves around still be able to be active. Many of these patients around the globe with mobility impairment experience very extreme functional limitations. Countless numbers of patients cannot control powered wheelchairs or are not capable of driving them safely. Brain-controlled wheelchairs are making it possible for these individuals to move around safely on their own. Brain-computer interfaces are systems that can communicate between human brain and physical devices by translating different patterns of the brain activity into commands in real time. An EGG headset, MCU and firmware signal work together to create movement for the wheelchair by processing the users eye blink frequency and brain activity. They them send bluetooth waves from the brain to the sensors in the wheelchair.

Health benefits are not the only thing we are using brain to action technology for. This incredible tool can be used in cars too. Recent studies with car maker Nissan they created a headset that figures out what you are going to do before you have reacted. The aim of this project is for the car to react half a second faster than the driver would preventing many accidents. In the near future this will save thousands of lives from being in car accidents. Brain to vehicle technology will also help to keep cars under control when they are on roads that make it difficult to drive on.

These technologies definately cannot read our thoughts said The Verge. They are very safe and still keep companies out of your heads. Though they use our waves to control things like drones and other bluetooth enabled devices.

Emotiv’s mental commands algorithm listens to trained thoughts and does the action for you. It is designed to do virtual and physical actions for you. Brain control will take the place of traditional input devices like remotes or keyboards. This will also change the abilities of virtual reality simulators, you will no longer have to wear a bulky headset but just a small headband.

In the near future I think that these same designers will create a dream catcher simulator where what you dream can be rewatched on a computer or hard drive. That would be amazing because many people cannot recall what they dream about. This brain controlled technology would make it possible for anyone to recall their dreams from the past sleeps. You could also recall memories more accurately.

These advanced technologies are the future of our world. Before we know it we will be able to use these brainwave controlled devices in the general public and it will be totally normal to have, just like our phones and other software devices.  

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