Early on the afternoon of April 1, Adam Wilson posted a message to Twitter. But instead of using his hands to type, the University of Wisconsin biomedical engineer used his brain. "USING EEG TO SEND TWEET," he thought.
That message may be a modern equivalent of Alexander Graham Bell's "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." Brain-computer interfaces are no longer just a gee-whiz technology, but a platform for researchers interested in immediate real-world applications for people who can think, but can't move.
"We're more interested in the applications," said Justin Williams, head of the University of Wisconsin's Neural Interfaces lab. "How do we actually make these technologies useful for people with disabilities?"
The researchers built upon the BCI2000, a software tool pioneered by Williams and Wadsworth Center neural injury specialist Gerwin Schalk. The software translates thought-induced changes in a scalp's electrical fields to control an on-screen cursor.
The BCI2000 is already used by 120 laboratories worldwide, but its communications applications have been largely restricted to messages appearing on a nearby screen.
"A lot of these have been scientific exercises, geared to writing things out but not really doing anything with it," said Williams. "We wanted to say, that's not how a person would want to communicate, especially with the advent of online communications."
The work is special because it meets the immediate needs of locked-in people, said Purdue University biomedical engineer Kevin Otto, who was not involved in the project.
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