Week 14 a.k.a. Control Computer Without Hands... Or Feet... Or Anything Really

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We usually take our health for granted, right until the moment we lose it. And when it happens, we may lose ability to do certain, previously easy, things, such as using computer for example. This is Week 13 of SPEAIT2021K course and I would like the IT world to be accessible for everyone.

BCI, which is short for Brain-Computer Interface, is a technology that allows a person to control computer with his brain. It is not eye-tracking device, no - instead, brain activity is monitored with electrodes attached to person's head, it is analyzed with the help of AI and transformed to commands.

Research in this field began in 1970s, when researchers in UCLA measured brain activity with EEG (electroencephalography) and then analyzed ERPs (event related potentials), or simply brain responses. Our brain controls our body by sending electric impulses through our nerve system to certain muscles, the nerve impulse affects actin and myosin proteins and the muscle contracts. Those electric impulses can be measured with EEG. Since for each single action the electric impulse is unique, AI can be trained to recognize different action signatures.

One of the earliest examples of such technology is P300 Speller. It consisted of 6 by 6 grid of letters, where rows and columns would be highlighted one after another. When a row or a column with the desired letter was highlighted, brain would react to it with P300 ERP wave, which would be measured by the device and said letter would be outputted. Study conducted in 2000 showed, that 4 paralyzed participants were able to type with the same success rate as 10 normal participants.

Various solutions, such as for example NeuroSky EEG & ECG sensor solutions and Emotiv EPOC+, are already being sold online. The latter can be used to perform various complex tasks, example of which being flying the drone.

In my opinion, this is a very promising branch of neuroscience and technology development. It may help people with physical and mobility impairments to use computers not almost, but as effectively as regular people.

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