Interface for "thought cap" device.
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:10 pm
I just read an article on slashdot.org about a new device that allows people who do not have the use of their limbs to manipulate a curson on a computer screen.
Although this is obviously a breakthrough, it struck me as incredibly stupid at the same time. A mouse cursor? Maybe I don't know much about how the machine works, but here's a guess:
The electrodes pick up signals from the brain and form a "map" of activity during different states. Since thinking of different things activates different parts of the brain, people can be "trained" to move a mouse by thinking of the direction, mapping the brain activity, then replicating and tweaking as needed.
What a waste of time! A mouse cursor is perfect for use with a hand, since all you need is hand-eye coordination, but the level of difficulty of moving a mouse with your brain seams to me to be extremely inneficient.
How about this instead:
Map different COLORS and SHAPES. Different ICONS. Different WORDS. Any kind of concept that a normal human being would be able to think of quickly. In short, the REAL interface for the human brain is based on MEMES. Use these MEMES in order to control a MENU-BASED interface to access heiarchial databases.
The best exercise for this new kind of training would be the old game SIMON. You map the four colors, then play the game by thinking of each color in the correct sequence.
Simple.
Although this is obviously a breakthrough, it struck me as incredibly stupid at the same time. A mouse cursor? Maybe I don't know much about how the machine works, but here's a guess:
The electrodes pick up signals from the brain and form a "map" of activity during different states. Since thinking of different things activates different parts of the brain, people can be "trained" to move a mouse by thinking of the direction, mapping the brain activity, then replicating and tweaking as needed.
What a waste of time! A mouse cursor is perfect for use with a hand, since all you need is hand-eye coordination, but the level of difficulty of moving a mouse with your brain seams to me to be extremely inneficient.
How about this instead:
Map different COLORS and SHAPES. Different ICONS. Different WORDS. Any kind of concept that a normal human being would be able to think of quickly. In short, the REAL interface for the human brain is based on MEMES. Use these MEMES in order to control a MENU-BASED interface to access heiarchial databases.
The best exercise for this new kind of training would be the old game SIMON. You map the four colors, then play the game by thinking of each color in the correct sequence.
Simple.
