Computer Reads Your Mind, No Hands Needed

f you can think it, you can make it happen.

This sentiment has inspired inventors to create technology which is totally out of this world. The new devices allow people to use the power of theirBRAINS to control computers. These latest inventions drew huge crowds at the CeBITtechnology fair where hundreds gathered around to watch a guy play pinball without using his hands.

A spokesman from the Berlin Brain Computer Interface – one of the companies who created this technology – says if the man thinks left-hand or right-hand, the electrodes monitor the brain waves associated with that thought, sends the information to a computer, which then moves the flippers.

But this technology is much more than a fun gadget, it could very easily be used to save your life. Scientists are looking at ways to monitor motorists’ brain waves to improve their reaction times. In an emergency situation, the brain activity kicks in on average around 200 milliseconds before even an alert driver actually hits the brakes.

Using this brain-wave monitoring technology, a car can also tell whether the driver is drowsy or not, potentially warning him or her to rest. At the g.tec stall, visitors watched as a man sat in front of a screen with a large keyboard, with the letters flashing in an ordered sequence. The user concentrates hard when the chosen letter flashes and the brain waves stimulated at this exact moment are registered by the computer and the letter appears on the screen. The technology takes a long time – it took the man around four minutes to write a five-lettered word – but researchers say it will definitely speed up in future.

Another device can control robots by using brain power. The small box has lights flashing at different frequencies at four points similar to a compass. The user concentrates on the corresponding light, depending on whether he wants the robot to move up, down, left or right and the brainwaves generated by viewing that frequency are monitored and the robot is controlled. The technology is being perfected for physically disabled people as well, who will soon be able to communicate and operate other devices using their brain.