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How Brain Machine Interface Is Changing The Way We Interact With Machines

brain-machine-interface



Research on brain machine interfaces is going on since 1970s. A brain computer interface makes it possible to control a machine such as a robotic arm by thinking about it. Electrodes placed directly on the brain through surgery or those placed on the head can be used to collect brain signals which is then used to trigger control commands through a computing machine. Brain signals are used to create an electroencephalogram or EEG which means electric brain picture.

Types of Electrodes

Electrodes measure potential difference between neurons. Charged particles move between neurons in response to external stimuli. This movement of charged particles creates  potential difference. This signal is amplified and applied to a computer in order to control a machine. Electrodes can be of direct type and non invasive type. Direct type electrodes provide better signals than those which are worn overhead. Non invasive electrodes are of dry type and gel based. Again gel based electrodes work better than dry electrodes. Dry electrodes are however more convenient to use. Researchers are coming up with high sensitivity dry electrodes for brain machine interfaces.

Developments in the field

Brain computer interface research gradually moved from animals to human subjects, over the years. Researchers at DARPA have done much work in direct neural interfaces which allowed them to help paralyzed person control a robotic arm and play a video game using thoughts in brain. DARPA also demonstrated that sensors can be used to help a paralyzed person feel the touch on a prosthetic or robotic arm. Such sensors can also be used to help a blind person experience vision without using eyes.

Companies and institutes active in the field

Research and development of brain computer interface is going on at several universities across the world such as University of Miami and University of California. Several companies are working on launching commercial BCI devices such as Neuralink and Emotive. Emotive is a headset which can be used to control toys or play a game on computer. Justin Sanchez who is currently with DARPA and Polina Anikeeva at MIT are two prolific researchers in this field.

Future of brain machine interface technology

In future paralyzed people will be able to control a humanoid bot or an exoskeleton in order to accomplish simple tasks. People will also be able to work with a computer, browse the Internet and communicate with others using their brains alone. Brain to brain communication is yet another possibility. In short people will become able to run most machines just by thinking. Possibilities for this technology seem endless.


References:

1) https://www.nature.com/subjects/brain-machine-interface
2)https://towardsdatascience.com/a-beginners-guide-to-brain-computer-interface-and-convolutional-neural-networks-9f35bd4af948 
3)https://www.techworld.com/tech-innovation/we-spoke-some-neuroscientists-about-computer-brain-interfaces-3691918/

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