[gurps] Neural Interfaces Revisited

[Susan Koziel]

Hmmm... I'm sure the interview they were doing was
with the scientist and the quadrapelegic that was
using the interface. They had him attached to a
robotic hand and they recorded his brain pattern (ummm
not sure which tech they used for this) making the
fist and then taught the computer hand that pattern as
the commands for make a fist. It was a really
interesting interview, I caught the last half (so I'm
a bit fuzzy on some of the tech). I was looking for
which interview it was today but couldn't find it (CBC
radio, one of the evening programs or the morning ones
- I was driving to or from the U of A). This was a
brand new thing as of about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

ahhhh! found it
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/HealthScout/060712/6071218U.html
-Sue

--- midnightwind at comcast.net wrote:

> I changed the header of this thread to avoid any
> confusion with the ethical discussion now turned IQ
> thread...
> 
> Sue:
> 
> The article I was responding to as referenced by Hal
> implied an implantable chip/sensor.  It seemed
> remarkable to me when they had done so in chimps a
> couple years ago, then trained the chimp to move a
> cursor with the Pavlovian reinforcement of getting
> food.
> 
> The sensor actually was surprisingly non-invasive--
> just a small number of microfilaments threaded into
> the brain that acted as antennae.  Then a
> microprocessor/chip actually external to the skull
> that fed into a computer via hardwire.
> 
> I would imagine that radio-controlled/wireless
> interfaces would be easy to achieve.  We already use
> wireless to control spinal stimulators and spinal
> pumps remotely.  Batteries might be a problem, but
> if most of the power were supplied on the computer
> end, rather than the chip end, maybe you could get
> some decent life out of them.  I'm sure stimulators
> or pumps chew up at least as much juice as a
> brainwave sensor.  In fact, it's probably passive,
> so the internal unit might not need power at all.
> 
> The chimp was also trained to try and form shapes on
> a computer screen.  So the scientists learned while
> the chimp did, too, programming their computer to
> recognize certain brainwave sequences, then
> translate that into visual feedback for the chimp,
> then attach that brainwave with visual reinforcement
> to a reward system like food.
> 
> My memory fails me, but I think they even got the
> chimp to play "Pong"-- that game that devoured too
> many hours of my childhood.
> 
> It would be interesting to see if someone could be
> trained to exert a sequence of brainwaves via a
> surface electrode interface a la EEGs.  Maybe a
> yogi?   You would likely have to program such an
> interface yourself.  Making a fist would open a WORD
> document, for example.  I actually don't think it's
> farfetched how Mr. Dick portrayed computer
> interfaces in Minority Report, or Prof. Asimov did
> in Foundation's Edge-- that the hands were in fact
> the keys.  I don't necessarily mean hand sensors as
> in those works of fiction, but hand movements with
> scalp electrodes picking up the associated
> brainwaves might be the thing.
> 
> The prospect of Virtual People in a MySpace
> environment adds to the speculation.  Do we initiate
> a 1:1 brainwave association in such an environemtn--
> that is, do we say that making a fist in RL should
> be programmed to move our Sim in the same manner in
> Virtual Space?
> 
> But I'm just speculating based on what I saw.  The
> only facts so far are regarding the chimp.
> 
> -vk
> 
> 
> 
> > Now can we discuss how our world is becoming more
> > cyberpunk or something? Vk, you were saying about
> > neural interfaces....
> >    I heard that there was a mouse at the U of A
> that
> > they connected to a computer, and I also heard on
> the
> > radio that they had connected a quadrapelegic to a
> > brain scanner and had a program that read his
> brain
> > scans and translated them to moving a cursor.
> That's
> > cool non-invasive "decking".... have you heard
> > anything about that?
> > -Sue
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